The Dark Path
by Luthor Lady
Summary: Chlex pairing. When it comes to revenge, Lex is the master. But for this particular plan, he cannot do it alone; this is where Chloe comes along. While using her to bring Lana down, they both discover that there is something more to them than just hatred.
1. Chapter 1

THE DARK PATH

By: Melbee1985/Jade4813

Pairing: Chlex, but also some Clana and Lexana

Rating: R

Spoilers: None after season 6's episode "Promise". Story takes place one week after Lex and Lana got married.

Disclaimers: Smallville World doesn't belong to us… ***sigh***

Something else?: There is a little twist to the show. Lana decided to reveal to Clark all about Lionel and is decided to leave Lex, one week after the wedding.

WARNING : There will be some blana at the beggining.. Sorry ;)

A/S: It's still a WIP as to how the whole story will turn out to be, since it's entirely based on a RPG over Yahoo! Groups.

* * * * * * *

PROLOGUE

_It's over now._

Slowly, but surely, Lana opened her eyes, feeling a little dizzy. The room was spinning around her and she tried to focus on something, anything, to make it stop. "A hospital room. I'm in a hospital room", she stated to herself as she tried to recollect her memory. Last thing she remembered, Lana was in the study talking to Lex. Or, to be more precise, she was about to walk out the room, to avoid him. But then… Oh, right. A stomachache. Really painful one. Then everything went dark.

As she was slowly remembering the events, Lana spotted Lex outside the room, speaking with a doctor. If it was already hard for her to get away from him for few hours, now it would just be impossible. Lana turned her head on the side, with her heart heavy. She had to escape. She had to be free again. And now that Clark knew about her secret, was there anything else keeping them apart? Some people could have said that the baby was an issue. But Lana knew it wasn't.

_Not anymore._

*

_Flashback :_

Lana moved from the shadow and slowly walked towards Clark. She hadn't seen him since... since she had told him she had decided to marry Lex. Which had been probably one of the hardest thing in her life.

"Lana? What... what are you doing here?" he asked. He took a single step towards her and stopped. "Lana... is something wrong?"

Lana wondered herself why she was here. Of course she knew. But it was hard to tell him. Mostly because she had seen Lionel,s car at the farm and she feared he would come at any moment. Oh god, why was it so difficult?

"I..." Lana tried to smile. All she wanted to do was to run into his arms. She knew his secret. Finaly. And he knew she knew. Everything would now be perfect for them. But no. Something else had happened. And she could only blame herself. She never should have hooked up with Lex. Or accept his proposal. Never.

"I miss you Clark." It's all that could go out from her mouth at the moment, fighting the tears as hard as she could.

"Then, leave Lex," said Clark. He started walking towards her. "I know you're worried about the baby, but... that shouldn't be the only reason that you stay with Lex." Clark was now standing in front of Lana, only inches away.

"I love you, Lana," said Clark. "And I know you love me... otherwise you wouldn't be here!" Clark stared into her eyes. It was the same look he had seen the day she married Lex. "Walk away, Lana. Walk away with me."

It was so hard. So hard to look at Clark and stay emotionless. She just couldn't. Lana loved Clark too much to betray him once more. She had to do it. She had to. Lionel couldn't hurt Clark. She would make sure of it.

But was it selfish from her to reveal him what she knew? It could put both of them in danger. Nevertheless, since she had told Chloe, she couldn't go back now.

As now Clark was few inches from her, asking her to leave with him, she couldn't help but kiss him passionatly. If it had been her, she would have done it forever. But she couldn't take any chances and after few seconds, backed down.

"Clark. there is something I need to tell you." She paused, looking in his eyes, slightly shaking. "Clark... I..." She clearly didn't know how to start. "I'm sorry..."

Clark sighed as he heard those words... the same words she'd said to him before: 'I'm sorry.'

Clark shook his head. "Lana, I don't want an apology," said Clark. "I want to know... what happened?" Clark stared down in her eyes. He took a deep breath as he gazed at Lana. "What changed your mind that day, Lana? What did Lex say?" And then, there was the complication that Clark hadn't thought about... the one thing that could have changed Lana's mind. "Was it the baby?" he asked.

Lana wished she could say it was because of the baby. But it wasn,t. And Clark deserved to know the truth. "Lex has nothing to do with the decision.. neither does the baby.."

She walked closer to Clark, with saddened eyes, scared to tell him the truth, and also because she missed him so much. "I was about to join you that day", she said as she walked slithy away from him. "But someone found out about what I was about to do.. and threatened me.."

Lana walked back to him and took his hands. "I coudln't let anything happen to you.."

"Anything happen to me?" said Clark. He stared at her a little confused by what Lana was saying. "Are you saying that you were forced into marrying Lex, because someone was threatening me?" Clark shook his head. Perhaps there was a chance to save her.

"Lana... back at the cathedral, I was trying to tell you the truth. I'm not like other people. Because of my secret... you don't have to worry about that threat." Clark started to smile. "We can still be together if that was the only reason."

Clark didn't understand. She loved him so much tha she hadn't been able to take any small chance on his life. And now telling him, she was wondering if it wasn't more selfish than to be with him. Altough she DID want to be with him.

She took his hands and squeezed them. It was mostly in act of fear, but also becuase it felt good to touch him. "Clark. He knows your secret. He knows your weakness. He said he'd kill you if I didn't marry Lex..."

Few tears were now slowly falling on her face, as she felt so bad and teared up. And scared.

"Lana," said Clark stepping closer to Lana. He slowly reached out, gently wrapping his hands supportively on both of her arms. He gently stroked her arms, trying to comfort her. She had married Lex... to save him.

"Lana," Clark began, "who threatened you? Who said that they'd kill me if you didn't marry Lex?"

At this moment, Lana's eyes, already fullfilled with water started to close and as they opened, some tears ran down her face. "He said he knew your weakness" She repeated, altough herself didn't know his weakness and didn't even know he had one.

She hesitated to reveal the name. "It's..." She took a deep breath. If Lana wouldn't talk, Chloe would. She couldn't backdown.

"It's Lionel."

"Lionel?" Clark repeated. "Lionel forced you to marry Lex?" Clark took a deep breath. He had just started to believe Lionel was an ally, someone that could be trusted with his secret. But that was obviously far from the truth. And Lionel had also gotten very close to his mother in the past few months. "I... I can't believe he'd do this." Clark started to pace the room. It was obvious that Lionel Luthor hadn't changed after all.

"I didn't know what to do.. I was scared... to loose you." She looked away. "I know it sounds absurd. But I had to loose you to save you."

She walked closer to Clark, who seemed confused and shocked. It was getting more intense and being close to him just made her want to hold him even more. "I can't do it Clark. I thought I could, but I can't. And Lex doesn,t deserve this. I can't keep pretending I'm a happy wife.... Because I'm not. I want to be with you Clark. I love you and I'm scared that anything will happen to you.."

"Don't worry about me, Lana," said Clark. "Everything is going to be fine." Clark slowly reached out and gently grabbed Lana's arms. He started to rub them gently, hoping to calm her down. "Lionel's not going to get away with this, I promise."

Lana's response to Clark taking her arms was to get closer and hugged Clark. It felt so good. Maybe there was a way for them to be together. Maybe all hope wasn't all gone. She loved him so much and now that she knew his secret, there was no more reasons to be apart.

Clark gazed into Lana's eyes. "We've got to get you out of that house," said Clark. "Do you think

you can stay a few days with Chloe? Maybe tell Lex that you're visiting Nell."

"With Chloe.. And Lois.. I don't know how we could explain that to Lois." She sighed. There was the baby. There was Lex. Her feelings were still there for him, but not as strong as those for Clark. She felt bad for having marrying him because of Lionel. Lex seemed so happy and Lana wasn,t. At all. "Lex won't take it well..." She looked deeply at Clark. "We'll have to face both Luthors.." She added, a little scared.

"Then, we'll face them together," said Clark looking down at Lana. After holding her in his arms, he knew that he had to protect her. "I'll see if I can find a way to keep Lois out here on the farm for a few days. That'll free up some space at Chloe's place."

Clark looked down at Lana, gazing into her eyes. He took a deep breath. "We can do this, Lana," he said softly yet firmly. "We can do this." His hands slowly slid down her arms until they found her hands and he took them into his own.

Lana looked at Clark. Her sweet own hero. She listened him try to find a way to get her away from Lex and found herself smiling. He was so devoted to her. And she felt the same way for him. But there was one slight problem.

"I can,t protect you if I don't know what's your weakness Clark. What if he uses it against you?" As Clark's hands found hers, Lana looked down at them then back at Clark. "I don't want to loose you." On this, she couldn't resist and gave Clark a kiss.

Clark kissed Lana back. After a few moments, he pulled back from the kiss, keeping his eyes closed as he folded his lips, savoring the taste of her lips on his own. He then opened his eyes as he looked down at her. "The meteor rocks," said Clark. "I'm... allergic to them. That's my weakness."

Clark had just confessed his weakness to Lana, but he trusted her. "But Lana... I don't want you trying to protect me," said Clark. "I want you to just try to stay safe. I don't want you putting yourself in danger to help me. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you." He reached out and began to gently caress the locks of her soft dark hair.

Meteor rocks. Like her necklace back then. Suddenly. some events of the past finaly made sense. She listened to Clark telling her to not protect him. Of course she would anyway. How many time had she ask him to not watch over her anymore? It had never stop him to still save her, whenever.

"So what are we going to do now?"

_End of flashback_

*

"Lana."

At the sound of her name, Lana got dragged back into reality, leaving her thoughts behind. Clark had made his way, somehow, in the room. Her first instinct was to look trough the window. Lex wasn't there. Soon, her eyes met Clark's and she couldn,t help but smile slightly. Not too much, giving the circunstances, but enough to show him that she was happy he was there. "Clark..." But she knew it wasn't a good idea. Lex was around. He could get in at any moment. "You shouldn't be here..."

Clark didn't give a damn about Lex. He had learned about Lana's accident and after what she had told him in the morning, there was nothing that wuld stop him from being with Lana. He could only hope that this 'accident' had nothing to do with their secret metting this morning.

His first reaction was to walk closer and took Lana's hand. "I had to make you were ok." He paused and looked into her eyes, worried. "What happened?"

Lana sighed. "I had a stomachache and the next moment I'm here, lying in a bed." She paused and looked scared, starting to breath heavily. "Do you think something happened to the baby?"

Still holding her hand, Clark's eyes slowly moved to Lana's abdomen. He began to use his x-ray vision, but what he saw, or didn't seemed to surprise him. Clark swallowed, his hand gently squeezing Lana's a little tighter. "Lana," said Clark, "You need to calm down. Everything will be all right."

Clark sighed and looked around. His other hand went to brush some of the brown locks from her forehead. "The doctors haven't spoken to you yet?" he asked, though he felt he already knew the answer. From her alarm, it seemed like she didn't know what was going on. "Look, whatever happened... it's over, now. And I'm going to make sure that nothing happens to you again."

_It's over now._

*

Having properly cowed the admission clerk into submission, Lex strode quickly and confidently down the hall toward his wife's room, still ignorant of the other patients at the hospital. He paused in his long strides only when he came to the door and saw that she was not alone in the room.

His concern for his wife was briefly overshadowed by rage, and his hands convulsed into fists by his sides, which he only managed to relax with a force of will. Why was it always Clark? After everything that that farmboy hick had done to Lana, and after everything Lex had told her he was willing to do for her - to give to her - why did he always feel like he had to fight to keep her?

Well...but of course, not really. She had married him, after all. Oh, Lex knew Clark had tried, in a last ditch attempt, to get Lana back at Lex's engagement party, but he'd failed, hadn't he? No, Lana had married Lex, despite Clark's no-doubt-pretty protestations. She'd CHOSEN Lex.

Bolstered by the thought, Lex managed to regain his calm and his confident stride as he barged into his wife's hospital room and rushed to her side. She didn't look very good; her face was ashen and her skin clammy. He really was worried about her.

Ignoring Clark for a moment as the insignificant gnat that he was, Lex lowered leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across Lana's forehead - both to offer her comfort and (yes, okay) to lay claim on her. "Lana...sweetheart...I was just talking to the doctors. How are you feeling?"

Then, because he couldn't ignore the elephant in the room indefinitely, he raised his eyes to Clark, though they narrowed when he saw that Clark was holding his wife's hand. He entertained a brief fantasy of breaking every one of those fingers that was currently touching her; hadn't Clark hurt her enough? How many times had Lana turned to Lex, crying about the man who had so lied to her for so long? How many times had she come to Lex for comfort? How many times had she sworn that this time was the LAST time she'd be taken in by Clark Kent again?

And yet, every time Lex turned around, Clark was panting after Lana like some lovesick puppy. How it infuriated him. Maybe he wasn't perfect, but he, at least, genuinely cared for Lana. She didn't even know how much he cared for her - or the lengths he'd go to in order to keep her. Keep her with him. Keep her safe.

He rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Clark...what a surprise, seeing you here," he said lightly, though his voice was laced with irony. "I'm sure Lana appreciates your concern. But, if you don't mind, I need to speak with my wife," so he couldn't help stressing the word. "privately. I'm sure you understand."

*

Lana was looking at Clark, then closed her eyes as he touched her hand. It felt so good. "Thanks" She only said, knowing he would always be there for her. With him, she felt safe and now that she knew his secret, she felt she could trust him, as he now trusted her.

She hadn't heard Lex coming, but when she heard his voice, Lana looked at him, left slowly Clark's hand and smiled at Lex. "Lex... I'm... I'm ok.. But.."

Lex had seen Clark. He might as well had seen Clark holding her hand. Lana eyed Clark. She would be ok. For now. "He just walked by Lex..." She said, then eyed Clark back, hoping he would leave without arguing too much with lex.

Clark felt Lana's hand leave his own, and then turned to look at Lex. The last thing that he wanted to do was leave Lana alone... especially with Lex. However, he read her glances, knowing that she was saying that it was okay... that she'd be okay. Clark took a deep breath, his eyes falling back on Lex. "I was just leaving," he said softly.

Clark glanced at Lana's belly briefly and then at her before turning to leave. He hadn't gotten the chance to tell her what he'd seen before Lex came. Clark moved towards the door and stood in the threshold. "I'll see you later, Lana," he said simply before Lex could say anything else. "I hope you feel better." The second after, Clark was out of sight, leaving the married couple alone.

Lana saw Clark leaving. She saw his eyes. They just wanted to crush Lex. She wasn't blaming him. In fact, she was amazed by the fact he still cared that much about her. After all that had happen. Of course, she hadn't been the one who had stopped the relationship last year, but still. She had been the one dating his ex bestfriend after all. Maybe she had ruin their chances of staying friends. What if she had stayed in Paris? What if she had never put her eyes on Clark?

*

Lex wasn't blind; he saw the looks Lana exchanged with Clark. It was amazing how easily he found his wife could hurt him without even trying, and he wanted to lash out, to put Clark in his place.

But now wasn't the time to deal with Clark, or even to deal with his own slowly breaking heart, every time he felt like the woman he loved was slowly slipping away from him, her affections turning back to a lesser man who had never deserved a woman like her the first time, let alone the second, the third, or any of the subsequent times after that.

Lana needed her husband right now. She didn't know it yet, but she did. And, regardless of how much he might want to crush Clark right now, he didn't want to make things any more difficult for her than he had to. As it was, he knew what he was about to tell her was likely going to be the hardest thing for her to hear of anything in her life.

He could barely take the news when he heard it, and he was nowhere near as fragile as the woman currently lying on the hospital bed.

"Hey," he said warmly when the two of them were alone, perching on a chair beside her bed and running a comforting hand across her forehead, brushing her hair off of her face. His throat choked up for a moment, and he had to take a second before he could speak, making sure to present as strong an image as possible. Though his voice was laced with compassion, he didn't want Lana to see how he really felt right now; she needed him to be strong.

Lana sighed and looked back at Lex. She tried to smile. But being at the hospital, and now alone with a man she wouldn't have married if it hadn't been because of Lionel. Lionel... She wondered what the hell this was all about and what would Clark do about him. She also wondered if Lex was involved in this. Was he aware that she had been forced to marry him?

"Hey" She replied, closing her eyes as he touched her, trying her best not to cry. She then reopened them and tried to look like her mood had nothing to do with Clark.

"How are you really feeling?" he asked her softly. "I was really worried about you." Above everything else that was going on, he felt immense relief that she was okay.

Then, keeping his concerned eyes locked on her face, he grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze, offering whatever comfort he could. He knew she was going to need it. And, though he didn't want to admit it, he was taking as much comfort from her as he was giving. "Lana...sweetheart, there's something I have to tell you."

"I think I feel… ok.." But Lana put her hands on her stomach. She was more worried about 'him' or 'her'. As she was just wondering about it, Lex claimed he had something to tell her. She looked at her hand into his and back at him, with water in her eyes.

"Is it... the baby?"

Lex had never felt more powerless than when he met his wife's eyes. He wished there was a way he could break this to her gently, but no prettty words were going to stop her from being hurt at what he was about to say.

"Lana, sweetheart, I'm sorry," he said, holding her hand tighter and unable to completely hide the pain in his voice. He couldn't say more, but he suspected he didn't have to. She had to know what he was trying to say. "I'm so sorry."

Lana stared at Lex. She didn't know how to react. Deep down she was relieved this baby wouldn't be raised by a Luthor. And she had no reasons to stay with Lex now. The baby was the only thing that was keeping her sane at the Mansion. Her only hope of maybe being happy with Lex. Now it was all gone.

"No..." She said, with a few tears falling on her cheek. "No... no..." She said moving her head left from right then right from left, as she started to cry.. For so many reasons... For so many.

Leaning forward, Lex wrapped Lana in his arms and pulled her close, not wanting to move her too much, but wanting to offer her comfort. "I'm sorry, Lana...the doctors said...there was nothing that could be done." He brushed a kiss across her temple and said softly, "We'll get though this, Lana. I know it's hard, but I'm here...you don't have to go through this alone." It was an odd thing to say, perhaps, but he knew her - better than she realized, likely - and he knew her greatest fear was being alone. "I'm never going to leave you, Lana." Pulling away, he stared intently down at her, meeting her eyes. "I love you."

He didn't know what else to say, but he hoped she found comfort in the knowledge that he would always be there for her, for the rest of their lives. Always.

Lana didn't bother much to fight against Lex while he was trying to hold her. She just needed a shoulder to cry on. But as he started to talk about him always being there for her and he would never leave her, Lana stopped crying and what he couldn't see while holding her, was scared eyes. The words Never and Always were taking turn that scared her.

Lana remained silent. She didn't bother to move. No more tears. No more words. She seemed like she was in shock. Which she was partly because of the baby. But also about the whole 'I'm stuck with Lex forever' idea was paralizing her. Maybe she never would *and should* leave Lex for Clark. Not only Lionel would try to hurt Clark, but Lex would probably go mad and try to kill Clark himself. She was starting to think he was very capable of it. That scared her even more.

*_I'll never be happy again._*

Lex realized that Lana's tears and stopped and he smiled encouragingly as he pulled away. Of course, it was going to take a while before she recovered from all this - hell, it would be a while before Lex recovered from the thought of what he'd lost - but she seemed to be doing better, at least.

Pulling away from her slightly, Lex smiled down at her, not noticing the doubts in her eyes. "You know, I think you might feel better if you just get out of this place. Why don't I talk to the doctors; I'm sure they won't mind me taking you home. And I have the best doctors in Metropolis at my disposal, so it will be perfectly safe." He raised the hand he held to his lips and brushed a kiss across the back of it.

"I'll take care of everything, Lana."

Lana didn't answer, barely looking at Lex. That was one of her worst day ever. Beside the day she was forced to marry Lex and the day her parents died. She didn't feel much like doing efforts and pretending she was happy with lex, something she had trouble to do since they were married anyway.

After a while, Lana looked at Lex. "Ok."

Lex brushed his lips across Lana's in a kiss and straightened. "Okay, sweetheart. I'll go talk to the doctors and be right back." He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, dialing a number. "Yes, Lex Luthor here...I need to have some flowers delivered..."

Lana closed her eyes, her heart racing, as Lex kissed her. it was getting even more harder to just kiss her husband. And now that she had lost the baby, it would only be a matter of time before he would put pression on her for sex. At least when she was pregnant she could use this as an argument. Lana watched Lex leave the room and leaned back on the bed wondering how could all of this happen.

He was feeling very self-satisfied when he returned to her room. Dozens of flowers were on their way to the Mansion to greet Lana upon her return, and he'd instructed his chef to cook Lana's favorite meal for dinner tonight. Then he'd made sure that business didn't interfere when he took her home and spent a quiet evening alone with her. Of course, he knew he couldn't take her pain away, but maybe just being with her could help. A grimace of pain crossed his features...And he hoped that maybe being with her would help his.

If she could only avoid the Mansion, which was probably goign to be impossible with the present situation. But as soon as she could, Lana would get off this place that already was killing her, just at the thought of spending another day.. and night.. there. Alone, with Lex. Hopefully she could reach Chloe and have her visit at the Mansion. But she wasn,t sure she was ready to tell anyone about her stillbirth. Somehow.. maybe it was her fault...

Lex took a deep breath to make sure he could keep a hold on his composure as he walked back ino Lana's hospital room. He had to be strong for her. "Okay, I've spoken with the doctors. Are you ready to go home?" Then he saw the expression on her face, and he rushed to her side again. She looked so shattered. "Lana...?" he asked in concern, trying to meet her eyes.

*_I just lost the only thing keeping me with you and I'm not sure I'll ever have the chance to get back with the man I love and you're asking me if I'm ok._* She thought as she looked at Lex. Of course, she wasn't going to say one single word about those. She didn,t have the strength to do so. At least not now. "Let's.. Let's ust leave this place."

His shoulders sagged with relief when she spoke. For a minute, he'd thought...but, no, she was just as eager to leave this hospital as he was. "Of course, sweetheart." He heard the door behind him open, and he turned to see a nurse walking in with a wheelchair. She was glaring at him, clearly not happy with his dictate that Mrs. Luthor would be leaving. But he didn't care. As the nurse parked the chair by the bed, she moved to help Lana up, but Lex stepped in her way. "I've got this; thanks," he said curtly, wrapping his arm around Lana's back and preparing to help her up. "You ready? Just put your arm around my shoulders."

Lana nodded to Lex, ready to go on that wheelchair. She just wanted to be left alone. She just wanted time for herself. So much had happened and between all that, Lana wasn,t taking Lex's feeling in considerations. Not that that was going to change her mind, but having him being so nice to her when she was making her feel even more bad. Maybe she should just leave the town. Forget about Lex and Clark. Start a new life. If only it was that easy.

Lex escorted Lana out of the hospital and into the waiting limo, which pulled away from the curb and headed back to the Mansion. "When we get back home, why don't you go lie down for a while? I'm sure you could use some rest," he said warmly as he saw the drawn look on her face.

Lana faintly smiled to Lex. "Thanks." Why did he have to be so damn nice with her? "Let's just go home.." She said, altough the significance of home wasn't taking the same turn to her than she would have expected in the past few months.

Lex frowned and lapsed into silence. Lana was moody and preoccupied, and he couldn't read her mood. Of course, she'd just been through trauma, so she probably wasn't herself. So, for the rest of the drive, they sat in silence until they got back to the Mansion, and then Lex helped her out of the car and scooped her into his arms, heading for the bedroom. "It's going to be okay, Lana," he reiterated, more to break the silence than because he thought it would help. "As long as we...it's going to be okay."

Soon, they arrived at the Mansion and Lana wasn't feeling good enough (mentally) to push Lex away. She let him take her in his arms and walk to the bedroom. "I guess so..." She said, despite telling her that it would be ok didn't help her much... at all. Mostly since much more than the baby was worring her. Loosing the baby just implied so much stuffs at once.

Lex placed Lana gently down into bed and leaned down to kiss her. Before he made contact, however, something in her face caught his attention, because he paused and straightened without actually kissing her. Gazing down at her in puzzlement - and a little hurt - he tried to meet her eyes again and said, "Lana...?" he prompted, but he didn't seem to know what to ask her. Instead, he sighed and said heavily, "I guess I'll leave you to your rest, then."

Lana looked at Lex. On a 'normal' day *as normal as they could be*, Lana would have tried to reassure Lex with a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek. But instead, now, she just wanted to be alone. Be on her own. She didn't need much to rest, which after what had hapen was weird. But she needed time to think, without Lex looking into her eyes endlessly. "Ok." She paused and before he could leave, a part of Lana, feeling bad for Lex, took his hand. "Thanks. For... everything." She then let it go and turned herself so she wouldn,t face Lex and closed her eyes, with a tear running down her cheek.

Encouraged by that tiny gesture, Lex was relieved and turned to go. "If you need anything...I'm here," he said softly before heading out her door to leave her to her rest. Making his way down to his office (of sorts), he sat in the chair behind his desk and lapsed into silence for a few minutes. Then, with trembling hands, he pulled a piece of paper out of a drawer and stared at it for a long while. It was amazing how much it hurt, to think of what they'd lost today, and though he knew that Lana likely blamed herself, he knew the fault was his. He should have watched over her better. Reaching into his drawer again, he pulled out a lighter and brought the flame to the edge of the paper with shaking hands, waiting until the fire had almost reached him before dropping the paper into the trash. As he watched the flames devour the photo of his unborn child, Lex felt like he wanted to cry.

_It's over now._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The day that changed everything**

Chloe hadn't been able to make it to the hospital earlier. After dropping Lana at the farm in the morning, making sure neither Lionel or Lex would learn about it, the blonde reporter had made it back to Metropolis for work. "What I wouldn't do in the name of friendship. And love.", she had thought out loud making her way back to the Daily Planet.

As of what Chloe had learned this morning, Lana now knew Clark's secret. Chloe wondered why she still married Lex despite that, because obviously, she was still in love with her former boyfriend. Since the wedding, Lana had been pretty quiet. At least until this morning, when she called for Chloe's help._  
**  
**Flashback: The same morning****_

"Wake up big boy!"

Clark groaned and stirred slightly in bed. He turned to look at the clock. He squinted as he read the time and then sighed. "Chloe... go... away," said Clark. He knew it was no good, so instead he grabbed a pillow and tossed it in her direction. "Just... leave."

Chloe could understand Clark's reaction. But enough was enough. Her mother needed him. She needed him. Heck, the World needed him. He couldn't tear his life apart because of one woman. "Hey! Careful!" She said as she almost received a pillow in her face.

The last thing Clark wanted to do was to face the world... or at least the world where Lois had married Lex Luthor. Clark didn't understand it now, and he hadn't understood it then. How could she marry him? It was only hours before when she told him that she loved him... that she would leave with him. But he had been stood up... left alone... only to arrive in time to see her accept Lex's hand in marriage.

Clark's fist tightened as his eyes opened. He was too angry to sleep any longer. He sat up, and his eyes fell on Chloe. "What do you want, Chloe?" said Clark. "If it's to give another pep-talk, do me a favor... save it. Whatever you've got to say, I'm sure I've heard it already."

Last time Chloe had seen Clark so mean, it was when he had been possessed by a red meteor rock. Which she knew wasn't the case right now. She sighed. She didn't know how to cheer him up. Obviously, nobody had been able yet. "I'm not here to listen to you whine.. say how sad you are... I'm here to move you a little. Do something of your life. It's time to get back on tracks Clark."

She dared to walk closer, and sat on the bed near Clark. "Could you at least try?" She said, attempting a little smile.

****End of flashback****  
  
With Lana showing up this morning at the Kent farm, Chloe was now sure that the story had somehow got even more complicated. She had no clue about what had happen, still she knew Clark was once again ready to fight for Lana.

After hearing the news about Lana being at the hospital, Chloe left work earlier and drove back to Smallville, making her way to the Mansion, since she had apparently already been released from the hospital.

An hour later, Chloe arrived at the Mansion, killing her engine. Once she got to the door, the guards looked at her. She kept walking but was stopped. "No visitors." Chloe looked at him and pulled out her I.D., She couldn't believe that Lex had a new guy at the door. "Chloe Sullivan. Ms. Luthor is expecting me." She said simply.

The guard looked at her I.D., then nodded, allowing her to enter the Mansion. "All right." Shaking her head, Chloe placed her I.D. back in her purse and headed for the Master room.

Chloe walked past the office and to the Master room and knocked softly. "Lana, you awake? It's Chloe", she announce.

**

It had been a little while since Lana had returned home, and Lex had patiently refrained from checking in on her. She needed rest, and he didn't want to disturb her slumber. However, it had been a while, and he thought perhaps she might be hungry, so, with that in mind, he'd put his work aside and headed purposefully toward the bedroom.

As he walked down the hall, he realized he wasn't the only one to have had the thought. Chloe was standing outside the Master room's door, having apparently knocked and requested entry.

"Chloe," he said in greeting, his voice neutral. "Now's not a good time for a visit, I'm afraid. Lana's...resting. Is there something I can do for you?"

Chloe jumped slightly at Lex's voice, he'd snuck up on her.

"Lex.." She stated as she turned around to face. Lex Luthor. The man who had cause an impossible situation in her life by winning Lana over Clark. Of course, in the end, Lana had make the ultimate choice of staying with him, but knowing what she knew about him and being so close to Clark, it was hard for her to see her friend being with him, mostly since she had seemed miserable lately. Clark had told about about the wedding and how she had been supposed to leave him. And this morning, the secret meeting they had. Everything was about to explode, she could feel it. And if she could, could Lex feel it too?

"I know. I just came by to see how she was, and if I could help out in any way." She stated calmly. "

Lex was silent for a moment as he considered. He didn't want Lana getting overexcitable or upset, but she would probably like to see her friend. As much as Lex wanted Lana to confide in him, as much as he wanted to help her through this, he also understood that it was something that was going to take time. Maybe...just maybe...she needed someone to talk to who wasn't her husband. Besides, he could hardly get rid of Chloe now without Lana eventually finding out he'd done so.

"Okay," he said finally, stifling a small sigh. "But I hope you understand that she needs rest right now. She's...been through quite an ordeal. If she starts getting too worked up, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Lex was worried about Lana, and the very least he could do was to give Chloe fair warning that, friend or no friend, he wasn't going to do what it took to protect his wife from further harm.

"She might still be sleeping, actually. I was about to check on her to see if she was hungry. If you'll excuse me." In a deft move, he slipped between Chloe and the door and placed his hand on the latch, not bothering to knock. Opening the door slightly, he slipped into the room and stepped into the darkness that surrounded the bed. "Lana? Sweetheart, I wanted to see if there was anything you needed. Chloe's here to see you."

At about that moment, he realized that the bed was empty, and he whirled on his heel and headed back toward the hall, determined to find his wife. He was worried; she shouldn't be up and about, not yet.

Encountering Chloe in the hall again, he tried to hide his worry. Making his face a mask devoid of emotion, he said in a low voice, "She's not in her room. If you want to wait in the study, I'll find her and let her know you're here."

"Lana is not in the room?" Chloe slight frowned. Even Lex seemed genuinely worried. She hesitated for a moment, pondering to offer her help to Lex. But it wasn't like she had left the Mansion. Or one could hope. For a slight moment there, she saw a look on Lex's face that she had seen in the past. Maybe there was hope for him. Maybe… "Sure…", she finally replied as Lex left the hall.

With that Chloe turned and headed back down the hall. Both Lex and Chloe hadn't notice Lana at the corner of a hall, as she had silently listened to their conversation. As Chloe entered the study, she glanced at the room. So many memories. A lot of them were not good ones, but sometimes she couldn't help recall the past. Seeing Lex so caring for Lana made her somewhat feel bad for him. Something she'd never admit to anyone. The thought of Lana playing both with Clark and Lex's feeling was starting to get on her nerve. Perhaps she wasn't worth to be with either of them. All she had done was pushing people apart, holding Clark to fulfill his true destiny and play in her husband's back. Yet, everyone had eyes for her.

"Chloe!"

Chloe heard a familiar voice, as she got dragged out of her thoughts. Quickly, she felt some guilt. She couldn't allow herself to think like that. Or so she had to convince herself.

After taking a deep breathe, Chloe smiled at Lana. "Lana, Lex is looking for you.."

Lana's smile soon faded. "Oh… I'm sure he'll come by the study anytime soon.." She walked closer to Chloe, walking a little slower than usual, still recovering. "I'm glad you came." Of course she was glad. She could avoid being alone with Lex.

Lana felt like she had so much to tell to Chloe. The baby. Clark. She would have to thank Chloe for taking her to Clark this morning. So much in her head right now. "What brings you here?"

"I heard about your accident. I came as soon I as I could. I tried to call you, but I guess your cellhpone was turned off. I thought I'd stop by, making sure you were ok."

Lana smiled at Chloe and walked her to another room, were, hopefully, they wouldn't be disturbed. "Thanks Chloe."

She said as she sat carefully on a sofa. "So..." Lana started, not sure what to say, since she wasn't sure if there were any cameras or micros in this room. Lex liked to knew what was going on in his Mansion. She hated that. "How is he doing?"

Chloe softly sighed. "Clark? He's... well I'm not sure..." She said honestly. "We haven't exactly spoken much, since this morning." She looked into Lana's eyes and realized Lana knew more than herself about Clark. They had talked again, probably at the hospital. She could tell.

**

Clark Kent pulled up to the gate at Luthor manor. He knew with all likelihoods that Lex wouldn't let him in, but he thought it'd be better to be direct and try to visit Lana from the front gate, rather than sneaking in and being caught. For one thing, it could possibly raise suspicions where Lana was concerned. Secondly, he didn't want to give Lex any more reason to scrutinize him or Lana... especially now.

"Clark Kent... to see Lana Lang," said Clark to the man tending the gate. He knew the call would go to Lex and not Lana. The only question was would Lex shoot him down here through the guard... or personally. Either way, Clark wasn't so sure if he could leave without seeing Lana... and making sure that she was all right.

Lex had just been told by a member of his staff that his wife and Chloe could be found in the Blue Room when he received the call from the guardhouse that Clark was waiting outside. For a second, he considered turning Clark away. Or having him shot and his body buried discreetly in some far-flung field. There was probably some incredibly reasonable reasons why he should refrain from doing either of these things, but Lex finally settled on the fact that the former would do no good (as he'd learned from prior experience) and the latter would likely upset Lana in some fashion. Heaven knew why. But she'd been through enough for the day, so Lex figured he could afford to be a bit gracious.

If Clark did anything to upset Lana while he was on the premises, however, Lex was more than willing to change his mind on the entire matter.

"Let him in," he replied finally. "I'll meet him at the door." Then he grabbed a cordless handset and dialed a number as he walked to the front door to greet his newest "guest". "Lex Luthor here," he said curtly into the phone when the other line became engaged. "I want all of my wife's medical records delivered to my house. Immediately. That's right. No, deliver them directly to me." Then he hung up the phone, confident that his bidding would be done.

By the time Clark made his way to the door, Lex was standing in a deceptively casual stance, a cold smile on his features. "Well, well, Clark. I have to say, this may be a first...you generally don't bother to ask before you trespass on my property. Something I can do for you?"

"Lex," said Clark as he stood there staring at his one-time friend. A part of him would have liked nothing more than to reveal to Lex that he'd lost everything... everything that mattered. His own father didn't really trust him, their friendship had been over for nearly two years... and he'd lost the woman he loved... that Lana wanted nothing to do with him. However, Clark only took a deep breath. "I'm here to see, Lana. The only reason I made this an announced visit was for her sake. I didn't want you getting her upset."

Clark swallowed as he glared at Lex. Had he put too much emphasis on implying that Lex would have been the one responsible for causing any distress to Lana? A part of him didn't care, but he did want to see Lana. The question was whether Lex would allow it. And more to the point, would he allow him to see her alone?

"She is doing okay isn't she?" Clark asked. "He had read her chart, and knew what had happened, but to see just how much Lex would reveal would tell Clark just how secure he felt about their relationship. Either way, Clark knew that it couldn't compare to what he and Lana shared... what they'd always shared.

Lex frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly. Of course, he didn't think that Clark knew what had happened to Lana, since even she hadn't known before Lex had told her. But at the same time, he found himself oddly reluctant to reveal anything at the moment. Even he didn't know if this was because saying the words would make the loss more real, somehow, or if he was afraid he would maybe reveal something that Lana would prefer to keep private...and if Lex was reluctant to admit that his baby was gone, he imagined Lana felt similarly.

"Lana's...going to be okay," he said carefully. "She's been resting, but I'm sure she'll be touched by your concern." Stepping back, he allowed enough room for Clark to pass.

Then, just when enough time had passed that Clark might think Lex had let the casual insult go, Lex said offhandedly, "And I'd never do anything to intentionally upset her, Clark. Lana knows that, unlike some people, I've always been there for her and always will be. But I suppose that's just what people who love each other do."

He threw a deceptively polite smile in Clark's direction as he turned the corner, and headed toward the door to the Blue Room. As he walked into the room, he ignored Clark completely and moved to Lana's side, staring at her intently. "Did you get enough rest, sweetheart?" he murmured softly as he leaned down to brush a kiss across her forehead.

Clark followed Lex through the mansion. He found Lex's cryptic response a sign that he wasn't willing to share any more than necessary with Clark. And once they made it to the Blue Room, that became even more evident. Lex seemed to completely ignore both his own and Chloe's presence as he moved next to Lana. Clark's eyes went to Chloe. In his haste to come here, he hadn't even noticed her car out front. "Chloe," Clark nodded at his best friend. His eyes then went to Lana who was wrapped conveniently in Lex's arms. "Lana."

"I'm doing good. Thank you... Lex." Then as she talked to Lex and faced him, she saw Clark behind. She looked a little surprise and avoided to smile or go towards him, despite her feelings. "Clark." She said, remaining calm, with Lex beside her. "I'm ok", she replied to Clark, as she kept the eye contact a little longer, then looked away, realizing Lex and Chloe were around.

This was just too... awkward.

Clark stared at Lana and took a deep breath. He hated the sight of Lex holding Lana in front of him as if she were some kind of trophy. "Lana, how are you?" he asked. His question was twofold. While he wondered how she was physically because of losing the baby, he also wanted to know how she was doing here alone with Lex.

Lana looked at Clark, with some passion she could barely hide. "I'm better…" After another slight longer eye contact, Lana looked away. She could feel Lex was about to find a way to send her friends away. Clark, mostly.

As for Clark, he turned his attention to Chloe. He didn't remember the last time they all had been in the same room. The tension seemed at it's highest. "Chloe... I didn't know you were coming to visit, Lana. We could've come together."

Clark tried to make a little small talk, though it was true that the mood was quite awkward. He then turned back to Lana, to see how far Lex would let him go before things fell apart. "So, Lana... I know you said that everything's all right, but... are you sure? You know... if there's anything you need... anything at all... just... say the word. I'll be here."

Lana looked over Clark. Of course it wasn't going well. But it wasn,t like she could say anything. Not in front of Lex. She slightly smiled at Clark. "Thanks for your concern."

Chloe looked up at Clark. A faint smile touched her lips, as she saw a glint of something in Clark's eyes, that she hadn't seen for months. She looked at Lana, giving her a warm smile. But she could see the exasperation in Lana's eyes.

"Umm Lana..want to go for a drive get some peaceful quiet time and some fresh air. It should be good for you. That and we could have some friend time together, something we haven't had for a while." Chloe asked, giving Clark a glance.

"Yes, that would be a good idea. Let's go for a drive." She said, looking at Lex, with a little smile, making it look like she was alright. "Unless, of course, if you see a reason why I shouldn't go." She asked eyeing Lex.

Lex tried to hide his scowl as his gaze flickered across the group. He really wanted to say no, but...well, okay, frankly, he didn't want to give Clark any reason to think that he thought he had any reason to worry about his wife's fidelity. Besides, if Lana went out with the group, she was unlikely to get herself into too much trouble, and Lex could take care of some of the more unpleasant business about Lana's situation without worrying that she'd overhear him and become upset.

After an hesitation, Lex smiled at Lana. "Of course I don't object, if you feel up to going for a ride. The fresh air might be good for you. Just promise me that you'll come back if you get tired, okay? I'm sure none of your friends would want you to compromise your safety."

Clark couldn't help but notice how begrudgingly, Lex had made his decision to allow Lana to leave. Nor had he missed the subtle suggestion that he may be compromising her safety. Clark decided to make another attempt at trying to convince Lex that Lana would be okay and that Clark himself would be no where near her. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're doing well, Lana. Chloe, I'll catch up with you later. Right now... there's a bout a thousand and one different things for me to do."

Clark nodded and turned to be the first to leave. "Take care of yourself, Lana," he said. "And if you ever need anything... just ask." Just as he had come, Clark left the room, heading back to his car.

Lana watched Clark leave, then turned around to face Lex, forcing a smile. "I promise I'll be careful Lex." She walked over him and gave him a cold kiss on the cheek, before she left, followed by Chloe.

Chloe followed after Lana, slowly. She gave Lex a glance, and it had nothing to do with thanks. "Okay..so..where do you want to go?" She asked Lana once the were outside and halfway to her car.

Lana gave Chloe a look that meant everything.

**

Clark had just pulled the truck to a stop in front of the barn. He stepped out of the truck and then moved inside of the barn. He began pacing about the barn, wondering... wondering if Chloe would bring Lana here. Was it fair to ask this of Chloe? And more importantly, was it smart to risk meeting like this? Clark shook his head, strengthening in his resolve. He had to convince Lana to leave this time. He could protect her... he would. He wasn't going to let Lionel or Lex keep them apart anymore.

Clark paused to look at his watch... the watch that had belonged to his father. He tried to think if they had enough time to have gotten to the farm. Maybe Lana had a change of heart... or maybe Lex had changed his mind about letting Lana leave alone. Clark pulled out his cell phone. He opened it and started to dial Lana's number... then thought better of it, and was ready to try Chloe's. Clark finally stopped and shut the phone... sighing. He was a neurotic mess. He pondered on why... why was he so flustered? And the only thing that came to mind was Lana. And surprisingly... it seemed to answer all of his questions. Clark walked to the barn doors to watch the driveway for any sign of Chloe's car.

**

"Chloe, there's something you should know." Lana took a deep breathe, as she looked at Chloe, who was driving them to the Kent farm.

"I've lost the baby."

Chloe remained silent for few seconds, pondering what to reply. And then, the only question she could think of for the moment popped out. "…How?"

"I... don't know... I didn't feet well earlier today... and then… I fell on the floor. Next thing I know, I'm at the hospital. I learned I had lost the baby." Lana said, with sadness in her voice. Her consolation was that now she didn't owe Lex anything.

"But.." Lana continued. "I'm fine..." Lana said with a little faint smile. She had to be strong. There was no other options. At least until this would be done. "I guess this baby wasn't meant to be...."

Chloe lowered her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry Lana…" The rest of the drive was in silence, as Lana was deep in her thoughts and Chloe felt like Lana wasn't incline to share more information that she had already done. Clearly, she seemed affected, but there was another problem on her mind. And Chloe was driving her to the problem.

"Here we are." Chloe pulled in the driveway and stopped the car.

As soon as the car stopped, Lana left the car. She didn't even wait on Chloe, which, she figured, was probably following her. "Clark."

"Lana," said Clark as he saw the young brunette step into the barn. His eyes lingered on her as he caught her look. "Maybe we can talk in the loft?" he said as he stood next to the stairs, waiting to lead her up the stairs, hoping that it would grant them some privacy.

**

"The last hours just felt like an eternity." Lana paused and looked into Clark's eyes. Knowing his secret once and for all just made her love him even more. She knew his biggest secret. Nothing could stand between them now. "I don't want to be away from you... ever..."

"You don't have to be," said Clark as he looked down at Lana. He held her hands in his own and took a deep breath. "Lana... you don't have to stay with Lex anymore. You can stay here... on the farm, where it's safe." Clark's hand left hers as he caressed the side of her face gently. "If you want to go away... we can. All that matters is that we're together, Lana." Clark's eyes drifted down to Lana's belly. He knew that it hadn't been long since she'd lost the baby... but that had been her last connection to Lex. Without it... what reason could she possibly have for staying with him. "Stay, Lana... stay here... with me."

She paused and put one hand on Clark's cheek, caressing it. "I'll talk to Lex today."

**

A somewhat smiling Lana was driving back to the Mansion, as she had borrowed Clark's truck. *Bip Bip Bip* Lana's watch was bipping. It reminded her that she had medications to take. For her recovery of her baby's loss. The doctors had given her a new treatment, so they said. It was going to help her make sure she would be able to have children in the future. It was also supposed to prevent depression. She opened her purse and found the bottle of pills. She then took two of them and with water from her bottle, took them. Finally, she arrived at the Mansion.

She felt a little strange. But maybe it was a side effect. Lana left her car and son walked into the Mansion. Why was she going here already? It was a little confused in her head. Still, she remembered she had to go in the study. Lex would probably be there.

"Lex... We need to..." As soon as she entered the study and saw Lex, she felt it. It was… passion. Deep feelings... Love? She forgot the reason she had come over there. Clark. What about Clark?

Lana walked over Lex with a smile. "I missed you..." She got closer and put her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for my behavior in the past weeks. I want you to know it has nothing to do with you..." And then, Lana kissed Lex on the lips. A passionate and warm kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: It's Going Down**

"Lana," Lex greeted her with a welcoming smile when she came in. He was surprised to see her back so soon... particularly since he was sure she'd been planning on meeting up with Clark. But just because he was surprised didn't mean he wasn't pleased. "Sweetheart, are you... feeling... better?" The last two words were dragged out as Lana approached. There seemed to be something different about her. She was looking at him so...he put down the drink he had in his hand and watched her closely as she walked up to him and put her arms around his neck and talked about how her behavior had been different as of late. Truth be told, he hadn't realized exactly how different she'd been until this very moment... he hadn't realized how much that look of love had slowly drained from her expression.

But she was looking at him that way now, up to the moment she kissed him. He returned her kiss, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight like he was afraid to let her go. When he finally pulled away slightly, he looked down at her with a small frown of concern. "Lana...of course I'm thrilled that you...uh...that you're feeling better, but can I ask what brought about this change of heart?" Then he held his breath, almost afraid of the answer

How could she ever thought of leaving this wonderful man? His smile, his eyes... She loved every single thing in him. All she could think about was being with Lex. "I realized how harsh I might have seen... I realized how much I loved you and I never want to lose you.." She smiled at Lex, still looking at his eyes. Could she ever let go of looking into his eyes?

She then took one of his hand and rubbed it, as she looked in his eyes and kissed Lex once more. "I would do anything for you... Anything..." She said with a little kinky voice, still intense and passionate.

**

Clark had been looking at his watch for the past hour, wondering what was taking Lana so long. As he walked outside, his eyes fell upon Lois who was leaning against her car. "What are you doing here?" Clark asked. He took a deep breath and checked his watch again. He had expected Lana to have called by now. It hadn't been that long, yet he wasn't expecting Lana to stay as long as she had. She was supposed to be going to break things off and come back. Clark began to feel that he should have gone along with her instead of letting her go alone. Regardless of how Lex would have reacted.

**

Lana returned the smile. "Lex, right now..." She started, between two breathes, "All I want is you..." She paused and kissed him again, slowly reaching one hand down Lex's chest, to any man's sensitive spot.

"I want you in me... Now..." She said, as she encouraged him to keep kissing her all over her body...

Nobody had to tell Lex twice. He didn't know why sweet, tender Lana had suddenly decided to indulge her more aggressive side, but he also couldn't say he had any complaints. If anything, she was only sexier for it. When she finished unbuttoning his shirt, he yanked it the rest of the way off and flung it aside. Then, as he moved closer to her, he kept his eyes locked on hers, looking for any fraction of doubt or fear, but he didn't see any.

**

Enough. It had been enough. Clark had to go to the Mansion. He had to find a way to get rid of Lois, but it seemed almost impossible. Instead, he sighed. "I need to borrow your car."

Lois chuckled. "Sure.. But I'm coming with you farmboy."

**

Lex grabbed the bottom of Lana's shirt and yanked it off her. If her shirt and buttoned up the front, he'd have torn it open at that point. As he removed her bra and tossed it alongside the shirt, he realized that she still didn't seem scared of him, so he relaxed, finally willing to believe that for the first time, he didn't have to worry about going too fast or scaring her away.

Stepping between her legs, Lex began to kiss her again as he ran his palms under her thighs and lifted them, encouraging to wrap her legs around his waist. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight against him as he swung away from the desk, carrying her with him.

After Lex laid Lana gently on the floor on top of the plush carpet, he stretched out on top of her, bracing his weight on his arms so he didn't crush her as he kissed her again. Then he pulled away and smiled down at her as he picked up the decanter he'd set aside as he'd laid her on the ground and swirled it gently, letting the liquid inside slosh around to get her attention.

**

Clark looked over at Lois as he continued to drive, admittedly a little faster than the speed limit. "You don't understand, Lois," said Clark as he looked over at her. "If Lex does anything to hurt Lana...." Clark swallowed. He didn't even want to entertain such thoughts anymore. He looked back towards the road, and just in time to swerve out of the way of a motorist that had just pulled in front of him. Clark quickly maneuvered to right the truck. He sighed heavily and quickly turned to look at Lois once again. "Are you okay?" he asked. Clark knew that his super powers would protect him, but he was still concerned for Lois' safety.

A few moments later, they had arrived at Luthor Manor. Clark wasted no time getting out of the truck. In fact, he didn't even shut the engine off, much less try to circumvent security. Clark made a beeline towards the front door. He pushed open the doors and quickly stormed into the mansion. "Lana! Lana!" Clark called out hoping that he would hear her voice call back to him. With each passing second of silence, Clark's heart began to beat that much faster... fear constantly feeding his imagination. Was he too late? Was Lana even there?

It was at that point that Clark reached Lex's office. It was where Lex spent most of his time. Clark could only hope... could only pray that Lana was behind that door. His hands closed around the knobs of the door. Clark looked over his shoulder briefly, to see if Lois was still with him. He didn't care, but could hear security approaching from down the hall. It didn't matter to Clark. Nothing was going to stop him... not until he found Lana. Clark turned the knobs and pushed the doors open. "Lana? Lana, I...."

Lex was so wrapped up in the thought of making love to Lana that he didn't hear the intruder. At first. When he glanced up and saw their new voyeur, however, he instinctively grabbed Lana and pulled her close, shielding her with his body. Lana was modest; Lex knew she'd likely be embarrassed by the public display.

He was also furious that, yet again, this farmboy had come strolling into the Luthor Mansion like he owned the place, interrupting what had promised to be the best night Lex had had in a while.

"Do you mind!" he barked, not caring to hide his animosity for once. "Clark, I know that you somehow have come to believe that you are entitled to just walk in here whenever you want, but that privilege is being revoked right now!" He wanted to jump to his feet and punch Clark's lights out, but he didn't move from his spot as Lana's human shield. Instead, he turned his attention back to Lana and brushed a kiss across her temple, trying to minimize her embarrassment. "I'm sorry about this, sweetheart," he murmured.

Clark froze after taking a few steps into the room. His heart had gone from pounding with fear to being frozen solid. A look of horror, sorrow, anger and even a hint of disgust cloudned Clark's face. "L-lana?" he whispered barely able to speak. He stumbled back. He didn't want to see this, yet he coudln't tear his eyes immediately away. This wasn't true... it couldn't be. The image before Clark began to blur as tears began to swell in his eyes. "But... but...." Clark could hardly speak. His breathing got a little heavy as he reached up momentarily to grab at his chest. It felt as if his heart were literally breaking. How could she do this to him? He loved her... and she loved him... didn't she?

Lana didn't even hear a noise, her own covering the sound of Clark's voice probably. But when Lex stopped and started to speak, Lana opened her eyes and saw Clark. Oh... it was only him. How pathetic of him, trying to win her back. She let her arms around Lex, while he was protecting her privacy and looked more annoyed than humiliated.

"Clark, I'm sorry but whatever you thought there was between us... it's in your head." She said, as Lex leaned a kiss on her cheek. She then ignored Clark and looked at Lex, whispering. "It's ok. The day is not over." She couldn't help but get lost in Lex's eyes. He was the man of her life. The only one for her. Clark was... Clark who? He was a mistake. She wasn't going to make that mistake twice.

Clark looked at Lana almost in shock. It soon was replaced by an angry expression. He couldn't find any single word to say.

Lois grabbed Clark's arm. "Let's go", she said almost in a whisper.

After a slight hesitation and looking into Lana's eyes once more, finding nothing but disgust when looking at him, Clark stormed out the Mansion, decided to forget Lana Lang once and for all.

**

"Lex. It's over."

Lex was completely flabbergasted by Lana's sudden reversal. Two minutes ago, she'd been telling him she loved him, and now she was saying it was over? Did she honestly think she could get away with that?

Speaking sternly to her, as one would a small child, Lex said firmly, "Lana, you're overset. It's been a long day. I think you should go to bed, and we'll talk about this in the morning."

Of course, he wasn't a fool. He'd known that Lana was fickle in her affections and prone to switching her allegance when it suited her, occasionally on a capricious whim. But this seemed to be just too much. If she loathed him as much as she currently seemed to, then what had she been after downstairs? It seemed she'd been playing him for a fool, but if so, then why the act in front of Clark? Unless he was in on it too. But that seemed a bit much, even for the pleasure of humiliating Lex. No, there was something more to this.

"You've had a bad day," he said firmly, for once without even the barest hint of sympathy. "You're not going anywhere. If I have to call a doctor in and have you sedated to make sure you don't try to leave, I'll do it." He paused just long enough for her to believe he was finished and then added, "For your own protection, of course."

Lana stepped away from Lex. She didn't like the tone of his voice. She looked quickly to grab anything to help her protect herself from him, in case she needed to. She had imagine him do alot of stuff, but never would he hurt her. At least she hoped.

"Lex. It's over between us. Forget what hapened in the last hours, I wasn't myself and you know it, ok? I've been wanting to leave you even before we got married. Now let me go." She said firmly, still in towel and a pair of jeans in her hand.

That. Little. Bitch.

How dare she stand there and act like he was the villain here! Like he'd had something to do with her sudden shifting of devotion! What did she suspect, that he'd drugged her or something? Considering what he'd discovered earlier in the day about her own actions of late, that was a hell of a thing for her to accuse him of! And yet, he'd been willing to forgive her. He'd been willing to put the past behind him and move on, because she'd told him she loved him!

And now she dared to look at him as if he were something less than herself, as if he were beneath her, something to be crushed under her shoe and then just forgotten.

No, Lana had married him. She'd opted to take the last name of Luthor. She may be standing there now and saying she wanted to leave him before she married him, but if that was indeed true than it was indeed a pity she hadn't acted on the impulse earlier. Before it was too late. Because now he had her, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her go.

Lex was flooded with a hatred for Lana so intense, it was difficult to imagine at the moment that he'd ever loved her. She was everything he'd ever wanted, everything he'd ever dreamed. He'd yearned for her so long, for the world and the life she represented. A home. A family. A loyal and loving wife, to spend the rest of his life with. And now she thought she could tear all that away from him?

She was an idiot, to think she could distract him by accusing him of perfidity when it was clear that all of her previous actions had just been a ploy. An act. A way to hurt him one last time before she left.

Did she really, truly believe he'd ever let her leave?

Had she ever even known him?

"You're honestly standing there and accusing me of having something to do with your behavior? ME? I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing, Lana, but I assure you that you are both outmanned and outclassed. You think you're going to just leave me? Humiliate ME?" He stormed forward and grabbed her by the arm, not caring for once if he hurt her. Wanting, in fact, to hurt her as she was clearly trying to hurt him.

She put one hand on her towel, to make sure it wouldn't fall on the floor and kept looking at Lex, starting to feel a little unsure. And then, he gave her the look. Something in her, without thinking, made her step backwards a little more, tapping her hand on any desk in hope to find anything. "What? I'm not.. I'm not playing..."

"You clearly don't know who you're messing with. I'm Lex Luthor, and you may have taken the name, but you're obviously incredibly naive about what that means if you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here. If you really wanted to leave, you should have done so earlier, when you had the chance, but now...after that impressive display downstairs," Sarcasm dripped from his words. "I'm afraid you've lost your chance."

He gave her a firm shake, and her towel fell from around her and landed in a heap on the ground. His gaze raked her nude form, but for the first time, he was unmoved by the sight, so consumed was he by both his sudden anger and hatred. She was the one thing he'd ever truly wanted that he'd actually had a chance to have, and he wasn't going to let her take away the dreams he'd cherished so easily.

Soon, the felt the air surrounding her in her complete nudity. She felt completly vulnerable. And humiliated to be so easily at sight to anyone who could come into the room. And by Lex. She fought the tears. In all her life, she had never felt so scared and yet, she didn't want him to have the satisfaction to see her cry.

Fisting a hand in her hair, he tilted her head back slightly, not enough to cause her real pain, but definitely enough so that she wouldn't be able to get away unless he let her go. Of course, he knew all her self defense tricks - hell, he'd taught them to her. And that meant he knew exactly what her weaknesses were...but, then again, he made a point of finding the weaknesses of everyone he met. And Lana Lang had more than most. Maybe it was time for him to demonstrate that she couldn't walk out of his life so easily.

"Lex!!" She cried as her hair was pulled back. She was breathing heavily and did her best not to panic.

She listened to him and tried to ignore the fact that she was nude and focused on the situation. She slowly turned her head. "I know what you are capable of and that makes you a monster indeed."

He was scaring her, he knew, but he didn't care. For once, he didn't care. Let her be scared of him. If his was the way she wanted it, then to hell with her. She was scared now, but if she knew exactly what kind of man he'd been raised to be - exactly what being a Luthor made him capable of - then she'd be terrified into insensibility. This tiny bit of fear was nothing. "Did you honestly think I'd let you go?" he asked again, then leaned foward and murmured in her ear, in a mockery of a romantic murmur, "Don't push me, Lana. You're looking at me like I'm a monster, but I think it's pretty clear now that you have no idea what I'm capable of."

For a moment, Lex remained silent and so did Lana. She tried to see trough him. What was he thinking? For a moment, it was as if something had exploded in him. And of course she knew that if it was the case, she was the cause of it.

She wanted to tell him about his father, but for Clark's sake, since that problem hadn't been resolved yet, she just stood there, hoping this was just rage and that it would soon wear off. It had to. "You think I am your toy and that you can do whatever you want with me?" She said, breathing heavily. "You can't buy love, Lex. And you surely can't buy mine."

Lex gave an unamused chuckle and ran the back of his free hand down her cheek. "Oh, Lana...who said anything about love?" He was filled with disgust. At her. At himself. At the entire world, and a fate that would give him everything he'd ever dreamed of and then suddenly, cruelly, rip it away without warning.

He saw the tears in her eyes that she was unwilling to shed, the hatred and the fear, and as suddenly as he'd grabbed her, he released her but he didn't step back. "No, sweetheart," he said caustically, spitting out the endearment. "I'm not asking for your love, which is fortunate I suppose since I don't think for all your tender sentiments that you really know what love is. You demand it of everyone around you, but you're a bit of a hypocrite. You loved Whitney until you grew bored of him, and then you turned to Clark. You wanted him, until he didn't give you everything you wanted, and then you turned to me. Whitney. Jason. Adam." He paused. "Me. You do love making men dance at the end of your string, don't you? Until you grow bored and move on.

"How long, do you think, it will take until you drive Clark away like you have all the others? I suppose you think he's out there, waiting for you somewhere. After seeing you naked in my arms, begging me to fuck you, and knowing that I've had you...you really think he's going to want you back? Clark may be a boyscout, but even you have to know that he must find you disgusting, after your association with me."

With a chuckle devoid of humor, he said, "No, Lana, I don't want your love. And I certainly can't expect your loyalty, since I'm beginning to doubt that you even know what that word means. But you made a promise to be with me, to be my wife, to carry on the Luthor line. And I do expect you to live up to that promise...not because I want you any more, darling, but, frankly..." He paused and said almost tenderly, "Because I can."

Very deliberately, he took a step back from Lana. "You see, sweetheart. I know you. Better than you think I do; probably better than you know yourself. You need someone to take care of you, to tell you what you want. God knows you've never known that for yourself. Mostly..." He paused and made sure she was paying attention when he said very calmly, his softly spoken words all the more dangerous and hurtful for being spoken in such calm, "I know the monster that you are inside. Every deep, dark secret. You call me a monster, but inside, I think you realize that you're one yourself. And do you really think you can pretend to be the sweet, innocent girl you once were? You're not that good of an actress. Do you think a man like Clark could ever really love you once he realizes what you truly are?"

He let her think about those words. Then he took a single step back and shoved his hands in the pockets of the pants he'd hastily pulled on as he left the bathroom. "I loved you, Lana. Once. And because of that, you don't have to worry. I'm going to protect you from everything in the big bad world, just like you've always wanted. I'll even protect you from yourself."

With a heavy sigh, he told her sadly, "Of course you know, I can't keep you here indefinitely. I can't lock you up in my Mansion and never let you leave. But I warn you...You took away everything I ever wanted. You destroyed everything I loved. If you leave me...I'll be happy to return the favor."

Lana remained silent. All of this sure hadn't turn like she had expected. Not that she thought it would be easy but, that? Clark was right in the first place. He should have come with her. After all, she knew he could protect her. Protect her from what Lex had become. A Mr Hyde. A side of him she had never seen and now she somewhat regretted to have even fall in his arms. Biggest mistake ever.

What a bastard. At least she was released. She felt better, but not that much, since she was still in the nude, a fact she couldn't neglect. "And you think you know what is love? Kansas's playboy for the last few years. And the only women you somewhat fell or tried to kill you. And me... Wow... You had a thing for me back when I was in high school. I could feel it. And it wasn't that much hard to guess when you had Jason fired and when you tried to force me to live with you once." She paused. If she didn't know about love, he surely knew way less than her. "You took advantage of me after Clark broke up with me. I was lost and yeah at that moment, I needed someone. But you needed more than a friendship. You needed the only woman that your so called ex best friend had ever dreamed of. And I was fool enough to jump in this."

Lex shook his head and gave a loud bark of laughter. "Love maybe? No...I suppose I don't. After all, I thought I loved you, didn't I? But then I suppose everyone makes mistakes." Again, his gaze raked her body, and he arched his eyebrows at her and looked amused, as if he'd weighed the woman in front of him and found her wanting.

"That is, however, a very interesting interpretation of the past you choose to delude yourself with, my dear. Such an innocent; a victim in all of this. You'd make a wonderful Vestal Virgin. Why, anyone would think that you weren't just as culpable for the situation in which you find yourself. It's hardly like I drugged you and dragged you back to my layer. No, Princess, you jumped into this with both feet, eyes wide open. against the recommendations of just about everyone you know...including me, at one point. So are you sure you still want to play the princess, locked in her ivory tower?"

After being released, Lana had been trying to cover herself as best as she could, putting her legs thigh and one hand on her breast. He may had seen her many times before naked, but that's a privilege she was revoking now. As best as she could. She kept hearing what he had to say. She didn't want to, but it's like she couldn't turn her head away. And she hated that because the more he talked, the more she understood what he wanted and how sick he was. He wanted to destroy her. Make her feel like she was nothing. Or worse. That she was like him. She denied every of his words the more she could. But something was building inside. Something that made her sick. She wondered if he knew about the pregnancy. And thinking about it made her wonder. Did he want an heir? She was horrified at the idea of getting pregnant from him and to even being touched by him. "I am nothing like you." She said taking it as an insult.

Protection? She really didn't need *his* protection. And certainly not with all that it implied, whatever it really implied. Return the favor. It was something she didn't like the sound of. She didn't know what to think. Of course, she could simply back away and go see Clark. Go see Chloe. But could she ever win against Lex Luthor? It was rather live her life being depressive or try to be happy with all the worst that it could imply.

"What do you want Lex?"

Belatedly, he realized that Lana was trying to cover herself, and he scoffed and looked derisively at her. As if she could instill lust in him any more. He was immune, or so he told himself. But, god, the memory of her in his arms not even an hour ago...the memory of the way she smelled...the way she tasted...the feel of her bare flesh against his. For a moment, he squeezed his eyes shut in agony. Okay, so maybe he did still. He longed for her. He wanted her. Heaven help him, he loved her. And the very thought that she'd driven him to this made him hate her more than he'd ever hated anyone in his life.

With his hands in his pockets, he raised his eyebrows at her and nodded toward the door. "You want to go? The door's open." Then, after a pause, he said as if in afterthought, "Oh, and what do I want? I want you to understand just what it is that you do to people. You've played the cat long enough, and I have to tell you, Princess, that I'm better at it. So what do I want of you? I want to make absolute certain that, this time, you can't pretend that you don't know exactly what it is that you've gotten yourself into."

Lana didn't move and listened to Lex depicting how bitch she could be. She had never been more insulted by anyone. And she was filled with anger, which was hiding some pain. Because she did felt like h was crushing her. And he was winning. Lana didn't know how to take advantage for the moment. Not at this very moment. But she sure would take revenge, even though right now she felt trapped between wanting to go and scared if she did.

True. She did ignored everyone's advices. But it seemed that at that very moment, it felt appropriate. Or maybe she thought it did. Back then, she was mad at Clark. Oh she so was mad at him. Maybe Lex was right. Maybe she just needed someone to take care of her. But things had changed. She now knew why it had ended with Clark. She understood and truth to be told, he always had been the only one. She didn't want anyone else. And now, nothing could stop them from being together. Well, except the Luthors. She had now both of them blackmailing her.

"You're an asshole..."

She wanted to slap him. She wanted to shoot him. Anything to hurt Lex. But right now, she wasn't much in position for that. And also, she was too stunned by his words to react. She felt crushed and she hated that he could see it. All she kept in mind was to fight the tears. Fight any emotions she could let out that Lex could use against her.

After a moment of silence, Lana finally dared to move. Of course she wanted to leave, but first, some clothes would be appropriate. She didn't like the fact she had to find clothes in front of him. Worst, she hated that. She silently turned over and made few steps to find her pair of jeans and a shirt on the floor, allowing Lex to have a view of her naked back for a moment. She then picked up her clothes and closed her eyes for few seconds, while her back was turned over. She was fighting her emotions. She fought the tears and god knows she both felt raging tears and pain. She then took a deep breath and stood up again.

Luckily, there was an attached bathroom to the bedroom and Lana walked over there to lock herself up so she could put on clothes. As she locked it, she sat on the toilet and took another deep breath. She wished she could stay there for the next hour, trying to think straight. Trying to think about what she should do. But right now, this was the last place she wanted to stay.

After few minutes, Lana opened the door, hoping so badly that Lex wasn't there, making this harder. She carefully walked out of it and looked around. And there he was. Of course he was there. She wanted to not be afraid. But she had trouble dealing with the courage card after this exhausting afternoon.

Lex had waited for her to come out of the bathroom, waited to use words as weapons against her because they were the only weapons he had. God knew he didn't have it in his power to break her heart the way she'd broken his, so he wanted to break the rest of her. But when she walked out of the bathroom, when she apologized...it was too much, and he realized then the flaw in his plan. He wanted to crush her, but he doubted that all of his pretty words managed to inflict a wound as deep as the one she had just scored.

Lana made few steps towards the door, then stopped when she passed beside Lex. "I'm sorry... I... I never meant to hurt you..." She then put her head down, almost in resignation or ashamed, starting to make few steps towards the door. The only thing she was openly sorry about, was about what had happen earlier. She had to discover what happened.

For a moment, it was like he was watching himself from some place outside, detached. Listening to the words he'd spat so viciously at her. Loathing himself for what he'd done and, worse, for what he was prepared to do. In that one moment of weakness, his shoulders sagged and he turned his head away from her, for that moment unable to meet her eyes.

"This isn't...this isn't how I wanted this to end, Lana," he admitted softly, and in that moment, there was no way he could disguise all the pain and sorrow he was feeling. "I never wanted this. But..." Finally, he braced himself enough to look back at her, where she'd momentarily halted on her way to the door. With a sad smile, he gazed at the only thing he'd ever really wanted to hold on to - the only person he'd ever known who had ever even tried to pretend that they loved him and not his money, that they saw the man he as and could be...the man he wanted to be...and thought that there was something worthwhile about the image they were gazing upon.

Of course, he'd been wrong. But how had he ever managed to fool himself? She was everything he'd ever dreamed. Beautiful. Untouchable. Perfect. And he was...he was broken.

Lana couldn't leave just yet. Because for once, in the last hour, he wasn't saying something mean. She was seeing a new Lex. One she had never seen. The more he talked, the more she couldn't fight the tears coming to her eyes. She hated that. At this very moment, she couldn't feel mad at him. There was something stuck in her chest. And it hurt. Badly.

"I know.." She answered, half in a whisper, in response to the fact he never meant to end things like that. "Me neither..." And then, as he kept talking, few tears finally left her eyes, to run on her cheeks. Clark. having Lex talking abot Clark that way just was too much for her. Lex Luthor was the only man she'd known who could start a conversation threatning someone and making this person mad and ending it with making the other one feel bad. So bad.

"It was inevitable, wasn't it? That it would end this way. That you would leave. I never...I never stood a chance, did I?" It was said without pity, without recrimination. A single bald statement of fact. Because it was inevitable that she would have left him some day, and it had merely been insanity on his part to think differently. Because he was Lex Luthor, heir to the LuthorCorp empire, and if either of them had been locked away in a tower not of their own choosing a long time ago, it was he. Because he lost the battle a long time ago to be the man he wanted to be, instead of the man he was.

"He'll take you back, I'm sure," he admitted, and there was no doubt who he was talking about. "He's a good man." That Clark Kent was everything Lex Luthor was not or ever would be also went unsaid. "And I suppose it was only a matter of time until you left me for him. Meant to hurt me, Lana? I don't know that you ever had a choice." Feeling, for one last second, saddened by the path he had taken and the one that he saw stretched ahead of him, he finished, "I don't think any of us ever did."

Then he turned from her, from his weakness, and stalked over to the window overlooking the grounds. Locked in a tower, indeed. "Go on," he barked harshly, the words ripped from his throat - his last concession to the man he could have been, had so many things been different in his life - the man he doubted now that he would ever be. "You want to go to him, so go! I'm not going to stop you! Just get out of here!" he screamed, the cry of an animal that used bravado to try to hide the fact that it was wounded and bleeding.

He kept his back to her, knowing that when he finally did turn around, she would be gone. Along with every dream he'd ever had, every last bit of humanity in his soul that he'd tried to nourish. And then he'd take that path he saw ahead of him; he didn't have a choice. But maybe he never did.

It was better this way, he told himself sternly as he gazed with sightless eyes out the window. It was better that she leave, he reminded himself, his hands clenched into fists on the windowsill in front of him. Because if there was one lesson he'd learned in his life, it was that when Lex Luthor cried, he did so alone.

"Lex..." She started, few tears still running on her cheeks. She was about to make a step toward him and put one hand on his shoulder, but stopped. This wouldn't help. After a few seconds, she whispered in an inaudible sound 'I'm sorry...'

She then turned around and walked out of the bedroom, going downstairs and soon leaving the Mansion. Leaving a nightmare. And at the very end, she couldn't help but feel bad for Lex. Almost making her want to stay. But that part of her was deep down and right now, all she wanted was to get back to Clark. And find out about what happened to her earlier.

She felt free and as she got into her car, she gave one last look at the Mansion, saying goodbye to her old life. After few minutes, Lana was out of sight, once and for all.

**

Lex heard her leave, though there was a part of him that had wished she would stay. He stook in that same spot, staring out the window, for a long time after the sound of her footsteps had faded. By the time he finally stepped away from the glass, his hands weren't shaking any more and his face was devoid of emotion.

She had done what she had to do, that which was in her nature. Now it was his turn.

None of his staff were around, he knew - they always left the area when Lex and his wife retired to their bedroom, and they were far too well-trained to be lurking in the hallway in any event. Besides, the walls of the Mansion were thick; he wasn't going to be heard.

Very calmly, he walked over to the fireplace and picked up a poker. Then, keeping it roughly above waist level, he swung it in a wide arc and smashed through some of the knicknacks on Lana's dresser before tossing it aside. Then he walked up to the window and stared contemplatively down at the floor, lost in thought. Suddenly, he whirled and put his arm through the window, up to the elbow, almost smiling when he felt the rough shards catch on the fabric of his shirt, digging into his flesh.

Carefully extracting his arm, Lex looked down at the damage and did allow himself a small smile. Not too deep, the wound looked worse than it was. It was perfect. Strolling nonchalantly over to the bathroom, he grabbed a white hand towel made of Egyptian cotton off the rack and wrapped it gently around his arm. Then he walked out of the room, heading towards his study.

He was just outside the doors to his study when he saw one of his security guards - the same one, in fact, that had interrupted the Luthors' romantic interlude earlier. Gesturing for the man to follow him, he preceded him into his study and sat behind his desk, making sure that the guard could see his blood-stained arm.

"Is everything okay, Mr. Luthor?" the guard asked tentatively, clearly not certain if it was within his right to do so.

Lex began carefully, "Lucius, I'm afraid...Mrs. Luthor has been...she's left the Mansion, and for the time being, I think it would be prudent to tell the boys at the gate not to allow her admittance." Then he forced a grimace and a reluctant tone as he explained, "I'm afraid the...ah...stress of recent events has made her a little...it has been a little much for her. She's a little irrational right now."

When he saw the guard look down at the stained white towel and then back up at his face, Lex had to force back a smile. Excellent. He knew Lucius was piecing things together in exactly the way Lex had hoped. It didn't hurt that Lucius had witnessed the scene between the Luthors earlier, so knowing now that she'd left the mansion and had no intention to return would further cement the idea that she was perhaps not acting entirely like herslf. Neither did it hurt that the pregnancy had given her a few mood swings over the past month or so - perfectly normal for a pregnant woman, of course, but Lex wasn't above using them to his own ends.

"Should I call for a doctor, sir?" Lucius asked.

Lex shook his head and made a furtive attempt to hide his wounded arm under the desk. "This is nothing," he said harshly. Then he picked up the phone, a silent signal that the guard was to go and pass on his instructions. As he turned, however, an object glinted in the firelight and caught Lex's eye.

Frowning in thought, Lex rose to his feet. He remembered how Lana had accused him of drugging her, and it was true that her behavior had been a little strange. Picking up the bottle, he was pleased to see that there was still some water at the bottom. Lana had been drinking this; maybe it would help explain her sudden change of mood.

Returning to his desk, he sat behind the solid panel of oak and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He was definitely going to get the water analyzed for any foreign substances. Maybe there was something to Lana's assertion that she'd been drugged. He had a lot to do, and if this was going to work, he was going to have to be careful about how he went about his task.

Luckily, he didn't have to do it alone. No, he was going to have help, from someone who didn't even know she was going to do so. Chloe Sullivan.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Surprises**

Clark stood in the loft of the barn, staring out the open window. Rather than listen to Lois try to cheer him up, he told her that he was hungry. Somehow the notion of a home-cooked meal came to Lois as she set into the kitchen attempting to cook... something. Clark didn't really care. Right now, all he wanted was to be alone. He moved over to a desk and stared down at a photograph. It had been a prom photograph that had been taken of himself and Lana.

Clark could feel his heart began to race... race with anger. Was it because she had chosen Lex? Was it because he had found her practically naked in Lex's arms on the floor of his office? Or was it the fact that she'd ripped his heart out after whispering promises to him... promises of love. And above all of that... he had revealed his secret... or she had known. Apparently it made more of a difference than she cared to admit.

Clark's grip around the picture began to tighten, and soon, the sound of glass breaking, metal bending and the photograph tearing filled the barn. Clark opened his hand and allowed the remnants to fall to the ground. He took a deep breath as he realized what a broken heart sounded like.

**

Chloe had returned to her apartment after dropping off Lana. She'd figured he would take care of the rest. And frankly, the situation was getting a little annoying. After spending part of her afternoon working on an article that hopefully would maybe make page 10, her cellular rang. She looked at the screen then picked up.

"Hey Lana..."

"Chloe… I really need your help."

Lana sounded panicked. "What's happening? Isn't… Clark with you?", Chloe asked slightly getting worried for her friend, just because of the tone of her voice.

"I… Something… Something happened.. I can't explain everything…" She took a deep breath. "I think I was drugged. And I need to prove it's Lex..."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Drugged? Oh God… Lana..." She waited for a second., pondering, then dared to ask. "Are you sure? I mean… Would he go that far? Lan…"

"Yes I'm sure. He did it. He probably knew I was about to quit him. It has to be him. He would be capable of it." Lana said, interrupting her friend, still sounding in panic, but clearly also very angry.

Chloe slightly sighed. "Ok.. Hmm… Go to the hospital and have your blood taken. I know someone there that owes me a favor. I'll make him analyze it as quick as possible."

"Ok. Thank you Chloe."

"Don't worry Lana, we'll figure out what happened..."

Chloe hung up and made a call to her contact at the hospital. "Tom? Lana Lang is going to give a sample of her blood. I need you to analyze it as soon as possible. Also.. I need you to find me some medial records. No... Tom... You owe me, remember? Yes… This will be the last time… Ok... I'll be waiting for your email and for your call."

Lana was off to the hospital and had a sample of her blood taken. After this being over, Lana walked out of the hospital. She didn't know where to go. She had no home. There were always Chloe's apartment, but since she looked like a mess, she didn't want to have to explain anything to Lois, who could likely be there. She wasn't even sure how much information she wanted to give Chloe. There were things that remained better left unsaid. She took a deep breath and decided to go see Clark. Chloe would get back to her when she'd find anything and she really needed to give it a shot. Try to explain. Lex Luthor was so going to pay…

After 20 minutes, Lana was back at the farm, trembling and unsure how to approach the subject, as she walked towards him.

"Clark... I need to explain about… earlier…"

"Lana?" Clark said as he noticed her. For the first time, he didn't know what he felt now that he saw her here and now. And without thinking, Clark made a single move he never expected to make. He took a step back from Lana. The very move seemed to stop her in her tracks.

"I... I don't think there's anything to say, Lana," said Clark. "And right now... I'm not really up for another heart-to-heart." Clark stood there, his shoulders square. The reason he wasn't up for a heart-to-heart was because it felt like his had just been ripped out. "I don't know what happened today, Lana. Earlier you were ready to leave Lex... we were going to start a life together. I thought there wasn't anything between us that could tear us apart." Clark paused his eyes taking in Lana completely. "I guess I was wrong."

"Maybe I was wrong about a lot of things," said Clark. "Maybe I was wrong about 'us.'" Clark shook his head. "Besides, every time we get close... every time it even seems like it's going to work. Something happens... something happens to pull us apart." Clark swallowed. "Maybe someone's trying to tell us something... and maybe... maybe it's time that we started listening."

Lana remained silent at first. "Clark… Wait." She made one step closer, yet not too close to be in his space, which he probably needed now. "I.. I know that you think you saw me..." She closed her eyes and tried to avoid thinking about it. "It wasn't me..."

But it was her. How could she explain to him? "Clark... Something happened. For a short period.. too long enough for me.... I wasn't myself. It was like I was possessed."

Water came to her eyes, but didn't cry. It wouldn't help anyway. She put her head down for a second before looking back at him. "I know I hurt you and I'm sorry. There is no way I could ever make it up to you..." Pause. "But.. I swear I'll prove to you that something or someone made me... different."

She finally dared to put one hand on his shoulder. "Don't say that. I'm not ready to give up... And so you can't..." She let him go and walked away a little. "You can't give up..."

Clark took a deep breath as he stared at Lana. She was possessed. It was the explanation... the only explanation that would explain what had happened. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder, and carefully withdrew it as she pleaded for him to give up on her... on them. Clark swallowed and took a deep breath. "Lana... we've done nothing but hurt each other for years. We're never in the same place... and when we are... it doesn't last." Clark swallowed and took a deep breath. "You say that you were possessed by something, but now you're not. What happened?"

Lana opened her mouth. She couldn't explain it. Yet. She thought about Chloe. Hopefully she would give her news soon. "I don't now... I was driving over the Mansion and then I was in a bath tub." She just hopes she wouldn't have to explain it. "I wish I didn't remember. It wouldn't hurt so much." She took a deep breath. "I'm not asking to forget everything. But you need to believe me Clark. It's over with Lex. I swear it is. I talked to him... And..I... I love you too much to loose you now.."

Clark paused to listen to her answer and then stared at Lana directly into her eyes. "Tell me that you were possessed the first time," said Clark. It was an invasive question, one that Clark almost wished he'd taken back. He took a deep breath, chiding himself, but needing to know now more than ever. "The first time... the very first time you were with Lex... was it because you wanted to be?" Every fiber in his heart was hoping she would say no... that she had been under the influence. Any explanation at all, but there was just one word that he knew would shatter his heart permanently.

"I... Clark.. you can't..." This was too much. She never thought he would actually dared to ask one day. She lowered her eyes. "It was a mistake... *He* was.. a mistake..."

**

Lex ran finger across his lower lip as he considered his plan from various angles. So far as he could tell, there wasn't a flaw to be found - at least, the first few steps were pretty straightforward.

Picking up the phone, he dialed a number and waited for the phone to be answered. "Yes, Doctor. Lex Luthor here. I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I've become concerned about my wife...I think she's taken the loss of our baby very hard." He stopped and listened for a moment, reminding himself that he had to continue to feign ignorance. "Of course, but she's...well, to be quite frank with you, Doctor, her mood swings have gotten worse." Another pause. "Dangerous? No, I'm sure she's not dangerous! I mean, we're talking about my wife, here, Doctor. I'm sure she didn't mean to...ah...No, she's not dangerous!" he protested, but he made sure to sound just a little too eager to make put that point across, as if he truly didn't believe it but wanted to protect Lana.

"It's just that I know that over the last month, she'd become increasingly worried about becoming a mother. Under any other circumstances, I wouldn't..." He tried to sound reluctant, as if he didn't really want to divulge this information but knew he should for Lana's wellbeing. "I think she became convinced that she wouldn't be a good mother. I tried to tell her otherwise, of course, but...well, I already told you I thought she was a little depressed. I think that it's gotten worse. Yes. No, she's not really acting like herself. Even her friends have noti... Yes. Much worse."

Oh, it was perfect! He could tell the doctor believed every word. Every. Single. Word. And the best part was, nothing that Lex said was an all-out lie. Lana had seemed depressed lately. She hadn't been acting like herself. And heaven knew she'd had a hell of a mood swing, just earlier in the day.

Wanting to end the call quickly, he said regretfully, "No, I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible right now, Doctor. My wife is...she's...ah...she's not at home at the moment. No. No, I don't know wh... Yes, of course. I just wanted to keep you informed, and I'll definitely give you a call if anything changes."

Hanging up the phone, Lex tried to hide his satisfied smile. The family doctor was concerned about Lana's health, and her mental stability was now even more in question. It was amazing what Lex could accomplish by just casting a slightly different light on facts that, by themselves, might seem perfectly innocent. He wondered how long it would take for the nosy Miss Sullivan to dig into the sob story Lana would no doubt try to sell and find all the little bread crumbs Lex was about to leave.

He didn't want to do too much too soon, however. It was best to go slowly, see how things developed. But still, before he turned off the lights and left the study, he made a mental note to call his personal banker as soon as possible. He'd have to be sure to do it from a place outside the mansion, from a number that could not be traced back to him. Then he walked over to his safe and, making sure to carry himself in such a way that it would look like he was trying to hide his movements from the security cameras (but failing miserably), he pulled a gun out of the safe and took it over to his desk. Unloading it carefully, he slowly, almost regretfully, opened the bottom drawer to his desk and slipped it and the bullets inside, leaving the drawer unlocked. He wanted to look like he was afraid he might need to protect himself but was not wanting to have to use the gun if he didn't have to.

Finally, before closing the safe and locking it, he surreptitiously pulled something out of it and hid it under his coat - this time actually making sure that the cameras couldn't see what he was doing.

Not a bad half hour's work, he thought. Maybe when he left the Mansion to make that phone call to the banker, he'd even allow himself a much-deserved smile of satisfaction. It was too bad that he had to do what he was about to do to the woman he'd once loved, but...well...he couldn't say that he hadn't warned her.

**

While trying to look into previous confidential information she had found about Lex's experiments to see if there would be anything that mentioned some sort of possession, Tom called her. "Chloe? We haven't finish to analyze everything but… Chemicals have been found in her blood..."

Her eyes widened as he explained her what he had found. "It can't be true!" It had to be related to Lex. There was no way Lana would do such a thing. A part of her, however, was scared of believing it. She was rationalizing the information: Lex mustn't have been someone easy to live with. Maybe she found it was her only way to get out of the marriage. Maybe she didn't want to end up like his mother. « Thanks.." She said stunned by the news and hung up.

Chloe was about to call Lana, but decided not to. Something told her she needed to find more about it before. After a short moment, she receives Lana's files on her email.

As she kept reading, she sighed heavily. And what she found next shocked her maybe even more. Lana, going mad? Had she miss something?!

According to that, the doctor had noted few notes after a conversation with Lex. So ok, Lex was a good liar though. He was also very good at manipulating. But again, she didn't have any clue of what the hell was happening and therefore didn't want to jump at any conclusion.

She wasn't sure what to do next. Call Clark, Lana... It wasn't like it would be useful. She didn't want to warn Clark if it was a frame. And she hadn't found anything to help Lana yet. No, there was someone else to see.

Chloe grabbed her bag and left the apartment. She had to get each side of the story, like a good reporter. Even if the other side was named Lex Luthor. Fifteen minutes later, she was at Lex's Mansion, announcing herself.

**

Lex had just returned to the Mansion and gone to his bedroom, pondering when was the soonest moment he could order all of his wife's things boxed up without it looking suspicious when one of his guards knocked on the door to announce his entrance. "Sir? There's a Miss Sullivan to see you, but she wouldn't tell me what this is regarding."

Lex gave a wry smile. He should have known. Of course, he'd imagined Chloe would come to see him. He'd never imagined it would have been so soon. Glancing down at the long sleeves to his shirt that were covering up the gauze wrapped around his arm, he pondered changing into something with short sleeves so he could show off his injury, but then he decided against it. With Chloe, it paid not to be too obvious. She'd believe something if she thought she was ferreting it out; she'd not believe anything Lex told her out-right. So maybe she'd notice the extra bulk to his sleeve and maybe she wouldn't. It was better to take the chance and not risk his entire plan.

"Show her into the study, Pierre," he directed. He gave it another couple of moments before turning and walking down the stairs to the lower level.

As much as it was probably something of a chance for Lex to entertain Chloe's company right now, he also found himself perversely almost looking forward to it. One thing he could give to the spunky Miss Sullivan...she held her own in a sparring contest. Oh, he could beat her, but he appreciated the fact that she was, at times, a worthy opponent. And he wondered at her presence at his Mansion now. He doubted she'd taken the time to find out too many of the breadcrumbs he'd laid for her already, so why was she here? What was she hoping to discover?

Only one way to find out.

Chloe made her way to the study and found Lex in his study. "Lex. I think we need to talk.", she said with a determined tone in her voice.

Walking into the room as if he owned the place (which, in fact, he did), he arched his eyebrows in feigned shock and said with patent insincerity, "Chloe. What a shock to find you here!" Then, with a slight grin, he walked over to pour himself a drink, silently holding up the bottle in an invitation for her to join him. "What can I do for you?"

"No thanks" She said declining Lex's offer to take a drink. She looked around and tried to see if there was anything different, but no, it didn't seem so. "I won't take much of your time." She sighed. She didn't know how to put this without revealing her intentions totally. "Lex", she repeated. "I need to talk to you about Lana."

She made few steps closer to Lex. As she looked at him, she wondered for a second, how this guy, who had done all in his power to put his father in prison once, protecting his friends around him and saving Chloe's and her father's life, had become someone with dark secrets and so untrustworthy.

"Something happened to her and I'm trying to find out what." She paused. Chloe didn't remember the last time she asked him help. "I know she came to see you and I'll be honest, I know what was her intentions. Now, it seems something happened and she seemed lost when she called me."

She took a deep breath. "Is there anything you could tell me?"

Lex looked consideringly at his guest as he took a sip of his drink. Moving behind his desk, he gestured for Chloe to take a seat before lowering himself into his own chair. "Would you believe anything I said?" he asked mildly, knowing he was hardly on Chloe's Most Trusted list.

Chloe took a seat and waited for Lex to answer. She refrained to cut to the chase. The situation was rather delicate, mostly since her duty was to help her friend, but Lana hadn't been much herself since she had hooked up with Lex and now, she wasn't sure how innocent she was. And she felt terrible just to think that. No, she had to keep in mind: Innocent until found guilty.

"I believe facts Lex. Right now, I'm just trying to get an idea of what happened." She paused. Of course, some people would have come over and would have already accused him. She liked to think she was better than that. Being more professional.

Then he mulled over her question for a moment more as he pondered what to say. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Chloe. As I'm sure you've heard about my marriage, since I have no doubt that it took all of ten minutes, if that, for Lana to head to Clark's house after she left here. So I suppose my question would be, what do you want me to say? Things haven't exactly ended up the way I planned."

Tearing his eyes from his, he lowered them to the arm of his chair, where he tapped his fingers restlessly against the wood. He didn't know how much he wanted to tell her at the moment, and he was trying to decide which part he should play. The aggrieved husband? The wounded lover? Should he act vengeful? Betrayed? I couldn't act too innocently; she'd never believe that.

"I'm sure it's no surprise to you that Lana never loved me," he said bluntly, still not meeting her eyes - though even he wasn't sure what he didn't want her to see: his plan or his pain. With a wry smile, he looked up at her and asked, "I'm sure you've known it all along. Did you come to gloat?"

Arching his eyebrows at her, he waited for her to make a snide remark about his ruined marriage. She had to have expected Lana would leave him some day; would she be able to pass up the opportunity to throw her knowledge it in his face?

"And what had you planned Lex, exactly? I mean... It's not of my business, but obviously, you have been chasing after Lana even before Clark and her broke up. And then you hook up with her not long after that and within months you marry her? Haven't you heard of the term 'rebound'?" Damn it. Chloe couldn't help it. She couldn't help minding other people's business. And this wasn't the point of that meeting.

Lex almost smiled at Chloe's attitude. Trust her to never trust anything at face value, let alone him.

With brutal honesty (more brutal on himself than on her, he had to admit), he said softly, "I loved her, Chloe. Maybe it wasn't the kind of love that girls dream about when they go to bed at night, but I did love her...as much as I ever could, I suppose. I would have done anything for her, anything in my power to make her happy."

With a wry smile and a shrug, he explained in light of her harsh truth, "You think I didn't know I was her rebound? You think I didn't realize in the beginning that when she was with me, she was thinking of someone else? I'm not a fool, Chloe; of course I knew what I was to her at first - someone she could cling to hide from the pain Clark had caused her." He paused and softly sighed.

"I merely thought that it didn't have to be just that. I thought that if I could give her everything she ever wanted...if I could love her like she always wanted to be loved...maybe that would be enough. I thought that, if I was patient enough, maybe she'd someday love me the way I loved her. I suppose I was fooling myself in that regard, at least." As he finished his explanation, he paused, momentarily nonplussed by the words he'd just spoken. He certainly hadn't intended to reveal so much.

Chloe listened to Lex and was having an internal battle. She didn't want to feel sorry for Lex, but she did, in some ways. She also wanted to replicate and doing that would probably mean ending the conversation by insulting him, but would that be wise for the moment?

Did Lex really loved Lana? Maybe. He could be one hell of an actor, but could he act that much, 24/7? She didn't know if it was possible, even for him. "I know you loved her..." She said with a sorry voice. "I just don't think you loved her the right way.." Once again, she made a judgment... "I'm sorry…"

After a pause, Chloe took out of her bag some files she printed out of her laptop. Those that Tom had sent her. She knew Lex had access to that, so it was useless to hide them from him. She gave them to Lex. "I'm sure you are aware of whatever's inside, Lex. Let's not play the game where you pretend you don't know something when it's obvious you do." She pointed something on a file. "I found out you spoke to her doctor today. Why does her doctor say she might be unstable?" She took a deep breath, because she was about to say something that she wasn't entirely sure he would even want to share with her. "Lex… I also found that… Lana didn't miscarried. She lost it on her purpose. Now, my concern is... why?"

Heaving a heavy sigh, he shrugged and fingered the file in front of him but didn't open it. Well, this certainly changed his plans. "You're right," he confessed. "I knew about the baby. I found out about it when I called the doctor to ask about Lana's health. I was concerned about the stress...about the stress losing the baby might have had on her. He informed me then that it was no accident."

It was still hard for him to talk about. Lana might have implied that he was a heartless bastard, but the truth was that he had so looked forward to having a child with her, to raising that child together. He had already set up the nursery, in fact; he could show Chloe, if she didn't believe his story - and then he'd have the room closed up and never open it again. He'd begun doing research on the best schools to send their child to in a few years - not only schools with prestigious reputations but ones at which their child might have been happier than the ones that he had attended. He had wanted nothing more than to be a father; he'd pictured a thousand times what a baby with her mother's beautiful features would look like, and he'd looked forward with eager anticipation to finding out if the reality matched his imagination.

That Lana had clearly decided that the idea of raising a child with him in return was unbearable was still an incredibly painful thought.

"As to why she went through the trouble, I can only imagine that she found the idea of being tied to me with a child too repugnant to bear. I honestly cannot tell you why she chose to do what she did; she certainly didn't ask my opinion about why she did it. And as for why I spoke with the doctor this afternoon...again, I've been worried about Lana's behavior lately. She's been acting...well, she hasn't been acting like herself, if you hadn't noticed. She's suffered mood swings and has even..." He let his voice trail off and lowered his injured arm behind the desk, as if he was trying to surreptitiously hide it from her eyes.

"She hasn't been herself," he finished. "She's been increasingly depressed, her moods somewhat erratic. Earlier tonight, she...ah...well, when we left, I had reason to be worried about her. I called the doctor in the hopes that if she returns to him for a follow-up after the misc...the abortion, he could keep an eye on her."

She then listened to Lex talking about the baby. She tried to read his eyes. He really seemed hurt. Chloe had to admit it was rather a radical thing to do. And cruel. Killing a baby to get away from a husband didn't seem right.

Everything seemed pretty much hurtful for Lex and she tried to remain as much objective as she could. If she had to choose between whom to trust, she'd pick Lana. But, damn it. He might as well be getting into her head. Not that she could ever entirely trust him; she had learned from the past, that sometimes, in crisis, he could be honest. At least partly. And when it was needed, could be helpful. She could only hope it was one of those moment now.

"Mood swings are normal for pregnant woman..." She said, finding a reason to defend Lana. She might had an idea of why she had mood swings. She wasn't sure she wanted to share the information with him. Because if he really was hurt, this wouldn't help much.

"And of course mood swings are normal for pregnant women, but we're talking about..." He let his voice trail off. "Earlier today, she told me that I was everything she'd ever wanted and she wanted nothing more than to be with me. She seemed incredibly sincere, and if you don't believe me, you can ask Clark. He...well, let's just say that he interrupted a private moment between Lana and I. Twenty minutes later, she decided she never wanted to see me again, and she stormed out of this Mansion, intent on divorce. Does that sound like a normal mood swing to you?" he shot back.

Arching his eyebrows at her, he asked slightly mockingly, "I trust that answers all your questions? Or do you really believe that I had anything to do with Lana losing..." It was still hard for him to say, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Losing our baby?"

Thinking he might have been honest on this one, she gave him some honesty in return. "Yes… I think I've got all I need for now…" Chloe stood up and after a slight hesitation, looked at Lex, with some empathy in her eyes. "I don't think you have anything to do with her.. miscarriage... Well.. not directly at least."

Chloe looked at the way he was hiding his arm, which was starting to distract her a little bit. She had notice his arm earlier at least twice since she had arrived, but hadn't say anything yet. Hadn't seemed the right time. Now that he had answered her questions, not helping her much though, she looked at his arm then back at Lex's eyes. "Is everything alright with your arm Lex?"

Lex frowned and unconsciously rubbed his wounded arm. "It's nothing," he said, a shade too curtly. "I...uh...I simply had an accident." Then he winced slightly because rubbing his arm wasn't actually doing him any favors. In fact, it caused his arm to hurt like hell. It didn't look any better, but he wouldn't show it to her unless she asked him to; he would never volunteer to show off such an injury. He wondered what she'd think if he told her what "happened" - or, rather, the story he'd concocted of what happened.

She nodded at his answer, not trying to go further with the minor injury conversation. "I see." She simply replied, packing her stuff meanwhile. "Well.. hmm.. I guess that's it. Thanks for your help Lex. I'll make sure Lana is alright." She said as she was about to leave. And then, she noticed something on Lex's arm. The wound seemed to have open because she could see blood on his sleeve. She pointed him his sleeve. "Lex. you're bleeding."

Chloe then looked around and searched for anything to stop the bleeding. She then remembered she had a scarf in her bag, which she usually used when she was in her car and had her window opened. She then, without thinking much about the fact it was Lex, walked over the mini bar and took his vodka bottle and went back to him. "Take your shirt off."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The search is on**

Lex's jaw dropped and he looked at Chloe in disbelief. Had she honestly just said what he thought she said? When had things gotten out of his control? He'd planned on making her curious, making her want to know more about what happened. Because the more she dug into things, the more breadcrumbs of his she'd find.

"You want me to...what?" he asked in astonishment before following her gaze to his arm. Indeed she was right; there was blood on his sleeve. Still, he found himself surprisingly reluctant. "No! I can take care of it myself, thank you."

He met her eyes, but she didn't seem to be put off by his protest and he silently groaned. If he continued protesting, it would come off as churlish, not to mention childish, and he stood to lose more ground with that tactic than he did by just removing his damn shirt. Rolling his eyes, he began to undo the buttons on his shirt so he could strip it off.

For the first time, Chloe saw a side of Lex she never thought she'd see. The child in him. Se smiled at his reaction and realized she just had smiled. It was as if for a moment, they were not who they used to be in the past year, trying to stop plans of each other. As if they were back in time, when Lex actually was friendly with her.

Lex couldn't help it. He didn't even realize he was doing it at first. But when he stripped his shirt off, he sucked in his stomach. Just a little bit.

"Don't be a baby Lex... Geez. I'm not gonna hurt you.." She opened the bottle and took some kleenex, to cleanse the wound. When she was ready, she turned around and saw Lex shirtless. She eyed him for a moment, then made it as if it was nothing, even though the sight was rather breathtaking.

With a heavy sigh, he offered her the arm that was wrapped in gauze that was blood-stained as he waited for her to react. Then, with a nod to the bottle of vodka, he offered her a sly smirk. "You needing a little fortification to deal with this unpleasant task, Bright Eyes? Don't worry; it's just some mild cuts. La...uh...I had an unfortunate encounter with a window upstairs. If this is too uncomfortable for you, of course, then I'm sure one of my many employees would see to the task."

"Oh stop it. It's not as if..." Then she stopped, looking at him rather surprised. "Did you just call me... bright eyes?" She said, stunned. Chloe was about to reply to it, when she saw the wound from a closer look. "Oh god... How did you end up hurting yourself on a window?!" She said, trying not to pick on the fact he had started mention Lana. She looked up at Lex, a little concerned, to her own surprise. "I think you should see a doctor... Put some stitches on that. It looks more serious than small cuts..."

After a slight m9ment of silence, Chloe softly sighed. "Ok… so. It might hurt a little.." She finally applied the tissue with the vodka absorbed on the wound, trying to clean it.

It was strange, that the tone of their conversation had so completely changed in the matter of a few moments. Why, Chloe was almost acting like she was concerned about him. And then, of course, she applied alcohol to his arm and he realized that it was all just a ruse and she really hated him and actually wanted him to suffer as much as humanly possible and then some. Holy hell, that hurt!

Chloe found herself smiling for the second time, as she saw Lex struggle as she cleaned the wound. It was rather funny to see Lex trying to pretend it didn't hurt. Men were all the same, she thought. Even Luthors, apparently.

Sucking his breath through his teeth, he tried to man up and hide the fact that her ministrations were none too pleasant. He definitely wouldn't be requesting her services as a nursemaid again any time soon.

In fact, it hurt bad enough that he almost forgot to lie. Happily for his nefarious plans, he caught himself in time. But if he could make a confession without making it apparent that he intended to do so, it was all the better for him. "Lana freaked out and came at me with a fireplace poker. I managed to evade her for the most part, though the same could not be said of the..." She applied more vodka. Seriously, couldn't she just shoot him in the head and get it over with?!? "bedroom furniture!" he managed to finish in a pained grunt. "I got the poker away from her and got shoved into - and, in the case of my arm, through - the window for my trouble." He said all of this while staring down at his arm, watching her wrap it. Finally, when she was finished, he looked up at her with a startled expression.

Forcing a smile, he said in a completely false tone, "I'm kidding, of course. I...uh...I tripped on something and...fell. And my arm went through a window upstairs. It's no big deal, really. I'll have my doctor look at it if it don't look better soon, but I'm sure it'll be fine." With a wry smile he didn't have to entirely fake, he mocked her. "Of course, if you're worried about my well-being, I suppose I could call the doctor in sooner..." He didn't know why he did it; it was just too much fun to bait her.

"There you go." She said, after putting the scarf around his arm. "It will do, until you get better medical attention." She closed the bottle of vodka and put it back at his place. She turned around and listened to Lex's explanations. It was rather unbelievable. Could Lana even do that? Chloe wondered mainly why Lana would even go crazy like that. Maybe it had something to do with the thing that had been affecting her. Or perhaps it was a deeper problem…

Lex's second explanation didn't seem much real either. She frowned at him. Was it suppose to be funny? She felt like it probably was related to Lana. But didn't know how. Thinking about it, it made her realize it was time to go. Get the blood result and talk to Lana. She owned her some explanations.

"Your well-being? Oh Lex, don't push it.." She said, looking as if she didn't care, but in fact was a little uncomfortable. She had helped clean his wound without thinking much about why she was doing it. Almost like instinct. Now, her last reply didn't go in accordance with what she had done.

Chloe walked back to her bag and took it. "I should go now... Thanks for answering some questions." She then recomposed herself and turned around, about to leave.

Lex smiled and shrugged his shirt back on, amused. "Oh, of course. It was my pleasure," he said mockingly. "Come over any time," he added with even more mild sarcasm, lightly joking because it wasn't like Chloe had ever really asked before coming over in the past. Anyone else, for that matter.

He considered telling her to be careful, but that would probably be completely over the top. So he held his tongue. Frowning in concern, however, he did add with somewhat more sincerity, "Chloe, I know I'm probably wasting my time asking you this, but with Lana...she's still my wife, and I...if there's anything I can do for her...if there's anything she needs...I hope you'll let me know. She may not want to be with me any longer, but that doesn't mean I don't care about her. I only want what's best for her."

Chloe found herself softly nodding at his request. "And if you get any news, let me know too Lex." She said, not sure if any of them would even do it.

She finally made her way out of the study and walked out of the Mansion. First thing she did was to call her friend at the hospital. And there was no good news over there. The blood sample had revealed nothing. Was it possible it was something else? Chloe was worried if there was something at all.

**

"A mistake?" Clark said. He swallowed. He bit down on his lower lip and turned away. Of everything she could have said... this was what he didn't want to hear. He didn't want to hear her admit that she had actually chosen Lex. He didn't like the idea of her in another man's arms. Of someone else sharing what they had together... something that he felt was sacred. Clark was even convinced that he would have preferred that she had lied to him than to hear those words. "A mistake, Lana." Clark shook his head. "It's not a mistake that ever made." There was just a hint of frustration and anger in Clark's voice as he spoke.

He took a deep breath and it was a bit haggard as he did. "I never... never stopped loving you, Lana," said Clark. "I've loved you from the moment I met you... even when you pushed me away... I couldn't stop." Clark took another breath as he slowly turned to face Lana. His eyes were barely brimmed with water. "But you... in that one moment... that moment you chose Lex... you did stop." Clark sighed heavily. "You gave up on us, first, Lana." He slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lana."

Lana let out few tears running on her face. It wasn't fair. She had been there to tell him she hadn't been herself. To ask him help. And how didit end? Talking about her first time with Lex. She wanted to argue, but felt it was useless. His mind was set for the moment. She would come back with proofs. She had to.

"I guess I did.." She said, half in a whisper, then turned back to leave, avoiding to meet Lois. Soon, she found her way back to her car and refrained to cry until she was back on the road.

**

After hesitating, Chloe decided to call Lana. She needed to meet her. Lana owned her some explications. Mostly about the abortion. But after few tries, Chloe hung up. Lana wasn't picking up. Hopefully, nothing had happen.

Her first instinct drove her to Kent Farm. Either Lana was there with Clark, either she had been there. Hopefully. And Chloe headed to the farm to talk to Clark once more. She felt like betraying Lana, but in fact, it was probably for her own good.

As she arrived at the farm, she noticed her cousin's car. Looking trough the window of the house, she noticed her cousin cooking. Chloe sent a message to Clark, just in case he was with Lois in the house. 'Meet me in the barn, alone. Now.'

Chloe walked over the barn and could only hope Lana was there with Clark. She might interrupt something, but at least Chloe would not worry about her friend. She waited there for Clark, while thinking about what to do for Lana. She didn't even know what to think anymore.

Clark had just sat down a bale of hay as he saw Chloe coming towards him. He sighed at the sight of her. It wasn't that he was annoyed or disappointed to see his friend. It was just that right now, the only thing Clark wanted was to be alone. It was hard enough to do with Lois constantly looking over his shoulder. "Chloe... whatever it is... can it wait until tomorrow?" Clark said. "I'm really not up for anymore drama this evening." Clark sighed as he turned around and moved towards another bale of hay. "And if it has to do with Lana... I definitely don't want to hear it right now."

Chloe walked closer. Clark really looked messed up. "I'm sorry Clark.. I really am... But I'm afraid that what I have to say can't wait." Chloe sat beside her best friend and softly sighed. "Lana..." She started, knowing it was the last name he wanted to hear then, after a small pause, continued. "She asked me for help... And I started to do so..." She paused again. How was she going to tell him tose things? It didn't concern him directly. But still, she felt she couldn't hide those things from him. Everytime she was protecting a friend, another one was getting mad. And this was too much important to remain silent about it.

Chloe turned her face to look at Clark. "Clark, I think Lana is loosing it..."

Clark sighed. He shook his head. "Chloe... Lana was just here," said Clark. Okay... she's probably just upset about what happened, but... if she is... so what. She can go back to the man she really loves." Clark sighed and shook his head. "You didn't see it, Chloe. Look whatever Lana's going through, she can turn to Lex. It's obvious that she's far more comfortable in his arms than mine." Clark stood up and started to move away. "Is there anything else? Because if not... I think we're done here."

Chloe really felt bad for Clark. She wished she had received positive news from the lab or had found any evidence that Lana had been under some kind of influence, but she couldn't say so. "Clark, you're the one she really loves. You.." She stopped. It wasn't her place to make Lana's plea and also, it wasn't what she was there for.

Clark started to move away. He picked up another bale of hay, and after holding it for a bit tossed it across the barn. His frustration was evident. Clark sighed and shook his head, the image of Lana and Lex in his office... on the floor... still plaguing his mind. And more than that... Clark had finally let her go. After everything she'd come back to him, but... this had to be it. It was too much to forgive. Her words as she lay there echoed loudly in his head. Clark slumped back against a pole in the barn, shaking his head. "I was a fool Chloe. I was a fool... right up to the end."

"I'm sorry.." She said once more, as she caught Clark on the run. "Ok so it's not going to be easy, but you need to hear me." She said, reaching Clark's shoulders and turning him around so he could see her. "Lana... She didn't lose her baby by accident. She... She took something and lost the baby.. on purpose."

She took a pause, looking into Clark's eyes, then continued. "I also found out that she has been a little unstable lately and earlier, Lex tried to hide from me a wound he had that may have been inflicted by Lana.."

Hearing Chloe remind Clark that he was the one that Lana really love only caused Clark to scoff. However, when his friend said that she had done something to lose the baby, Clark turned to face Chloe. "What?" he said. "You're saying that... she lost the baby... on purpose?" Clark shook his head. "No... no, Lana wouldn't do that. Regardless of who the father was... she wouldn't do that." Of course, now Clark was curious. None of Lana's behavior was really rational as of late. And as Chloe mentioned Lex, Clark shook his head.

"Wait... did Lex put you up to this?" he asked. "Chloe... we can't trust, Lex. He'd say anything. He'd probably hurt himself just to make you think that Lana is doing these things." Clark's mind was racing. He had to wonder... would Lex go as far as to harm his own offspring though? That part certainly didn't make sense. Lex had Lana... and wanted to keep her. And making sure she had a healthy baby was certainly a way to make that happen. "How do we know that Lex is being on the level?"

Chloe lowered her head. "Well, that's what I found in her records. I still haven't talk to her yet. I can't seem to reach her." While listening to Clark, she tried to call her back, with no answer. Could Lex have been putting her up to this? It was possible, but for once, she had doubts. Chloe usually didn't have trouble finding out the truth, but now, she wasn't sure of anything.

"No... Lex may be alot of things, but he would never kill his own unborn child." That didn't make much sense, since she was stating Lana could have done it, but still, if there was one thing she thought knowing about Lex, was that he would have give anything to get an heir. And having a baby was one of the best way to get Lana near him.. "I don't know why Lana did it. And I hope I'm mistaken, but if I'm not, the only reason I'd know why she did it is..." She looked at Clark, knowing she wasn't going to help him much.

"You. I think Lana thought this was the only thing that was linking her to Lex and if she wasn't pregnant anymore.. she'd be.. free.." Chloe hoped she was wrong. She really did. But, then, why was she feeling so bad? Bad of thinking such things from a friend. Bad because they might actually be true.

After a soft sigh of compassion, Chloe looked at her cell then at Clark. "She's been here and I'm guessing from your behaviors that it didn,t went well. Now.. I can't find her.. And if she really is not going well... then who knows what she might be doing right now.."

Clark shook his head as he realized the parallel that Chloe was drawing about Lana and shook his head. Would Lana really go that far... just to get him back? Of course if she were, why would she throw herself to Lex as she had that night. Something was wrong... definitely wrong. Clark sighed as he tried to think. And then, he heard Chloe ask about Lana having been there. He nodded. "Yeah, she was," Clark answered. "We... I... sort of ended things between us... for good." Clark sighed. He ran his hand through his hair. "Chloe... do you really think that Lana could be that... unstable?" Clark looked at his best friend, not exactly comfortable using that term.

Clark sighed as he feared the answer. "You say that Lana's not answering your calls?" he said. He reached into his pocket and took out his own cell phone. Clark sighed heavily as he looked at it. He then looked back at Chloe. "Do you think she'd answer if I tried?"

"I don't know.." Chloe looked back at Clark, looking somewhat worried. "Do you think we should ask you mother and Lois to help us find her? In case she doesnt pick up.."

Clark sighed. "Hopefully, it won't come to that," said Clark. "But if so... give me a headstart to start looking on my own before you drag Lois into it," said Clark. He looked at the phone and then dialed Lana's number. He held it to his ear as he waited to see if Lana would answer. If she didn't, could he really blame her? Clark's eyes moved to meet his friend. With each ring, he was actually hoping to hear Lana's voice pick up. His mind began to race with images and thoughts of what Lana could be doing right now, and unfortunately, none of them were good. "Pick up, Lana... please... pick up the phone."

**

Lana's phone had turned into silent mode, while Lana was plotting on getting a revenge on Lex, still convinced he had something to do with her strange behaviors. One good thing of having been a Luthor, she had learn some tricks and had made some contacts. If the lab wasn't going to be conclusive, at least she would have a backup. She would make Lex talk. And pay for that matter.

**

*Hi! You've reached Lana Lang, but I'm not there. Just leave a message  
and I'll call you back as soon as possible. Thanks!*

BEEP!

"Lana, it's Clark," he said into the phone. "Listen, Lana... I'm worried about you. You were really upset when you left, and I just want to make sure that you're all right." Clark took a deep breath. "Regardless of whether we're together or not, Lana, I still care about you." Clark sighed his eyes now meeting Chloe's. "Just... call me as soon as you get this. Okay, Lana?"

Clark then closed the cell phone. He looked over at Chloe and shrugged. "Voice mail was all I could get. What are we going to do now?" Clark asked her. "We have to find her, Chloe? Before it's too late."

Chloe was not relieved to find out Clark had been talking to Lana's voicemail. Who knew what she was up to? "What if she decided to get back at the Mansion? She seemed pretty sure that Lex did something to her." She paused. "I think if Lex was behind it, he would have succeeded better than that.." She said, finding the best way not to say she believed Lex, but that maybe he wasn't really the investigator of the problem.

She thought for a second. "Or maybe she's somewhere where she is used to hang out. When she feels alone. Now, I'm doubting it's the Talon and she has lost her 2 other places... Mansion and the farm.." She paused. "Do you have any idea where she could be?"

Clark sighed as he tried to think where Lana could be. He swallowed, as he thought. Chloe was right, there were only so many places in Smallville where Lana probably felt comfortable. The Talon would have been his first guess, but Chloe brought up a valid point. Too many people may go looking for her there. She certainly wasn't at the farm, and Clark doubted that she'd return to the Mansion. Clark shook his head. "Well, there's always… Crater lake? Or... the pasture. The pasture where Lana always ride. Maybe we should check there too!"

Chloe nodded. "I can go see at the lake. With your superspeed, you should go everywhere else..." She looked at her watch, worried that it would get dark too soon.

"I'll call you if I find her...." Chloe took out her keys from her pocket and walked toward her car. "Be careful Clark... We don't knw what's wrong with Lana..." She sighed and jumped in her car, going to the Crater Lake.

**

Lana had been making some calls and was decided to take back her life. If she couldn't find proof of what had happen, she'd set up some. She was willing to do alot of things to be with Clark. And this thing surely wasn't gonna end their relation...

**

Chloe had barely arrived at Crater Lake when her phone rang. She answered as quickly as possible. She hoped Lana had been found. As much as she could see from where she was, Lana didnt seem to be at the lake. "Did you find anything?" She said, as soon as she had picked up.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," said Clark into the phone. His eyes looked around at his surroundings again as he sighed heavily. "But no, I didn't see a sign of Lana. I've looked just about everywhere, Chloe. I... I don't even know where else to look." Clark swallowed as he began to think that perhaps they should consider checking out the Luthor Mansion. "What about you, Chloe. Any sign of Lana at the lake?" Clark waited on the answer, though he pretty much knew the answer.

Chloe looked down, even though Clark couldn't see her. "I'm sorry, Clark. She doesn't appear to be here." She got back in her car, more worried than ever. "I'm close to the Mansion, maybe I can go back to make sure…" She knew Clark would disapprove but was there any other options left? Chloe started her engine and drove in the Mansion direction.

"Oh! The graveyard!" The idea hit her. She recalled that Lana used to go there talk to her parents back in the old days. Maybe there was a slight possibility she was there.

"Look, I'm going to the Mansion. Meanwhile, try the cemetery. I'm too far from it."

"Chloe, wait!" said Clark into the phone as she suggested going to the Mansion to look for Lana. It was the conclusion that Clark had come to draw, but he didn't want Chloe going alone. "Chloe, I'll come with you, just...." Of course it was at that moment that Chloe suggested that Lana may be at the cemetery. It was possible that she was at the cemetery, and because of that, he had to check it out. Still, that meant Chloe was going back to the Mansion. And even though Lex had brought Lana's condition to their attention, Clark still felt like his friend was marching into the lion's den.

"Chloe, look," Clark began, of course he knew it would be next to impossible to change Chloe's mind. "Just... be careful, okay? And at the first sign of trouble... you call me. All right?" Clark waited for an answer.

"Clark, don't worry, ok? Not my first encounter with Lex you know.." While speaking, she turned into Lex Luthor's private road that led to his Mansion.

Chloe could now see the Mansion ahead. "Ok Clark... Be careful too… God knows what Lana is doing.." She then hung up and parked her car in front of the Mansion, as she wondered deep down what real motives had drag her back here.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Truth and Lies**

She wasn't sure whether she should have called Lex or not, but now that she was there, it was useless. She knocked at the door and once the door was opened, Chloe didn't take time to get announced and walked directly to the study. "Lex?" She said, as she entered the study, just 2 hours after she had left it.

When Chloe walked into the study, there was a member of Lex's staff waiting there to greet her. "Ms. Sullivan?" the petite brown-haired girl asked. Before Chloe could respond, she brushed past her through the doorway. "Follow me, please. You're expected."

She led Chloe down the hall to the dining room and then escorted her inside. Lex was seated at the table, his fork hovering above his plate, as he prepared to dig in to the food on his plate. When he heard the door open, he turned to greet his guest with a wry smile.

Chloe followed the woman to the dining room, clueless about how had she been expected. She walked in and looked around. Maybe he was waiting for her because he knew more about Lana that he had suggested earlier.

"Chloe," he greeted her in more acknowledgment of her presence than true welcome. Then he made a show of looking at his watch. "You're late. I expected you a good six minutes ago." When he looked back at his guest, it was with a wry smile, though there was some humor in his eyes. "I hope you don't mind, but with the excitement of today, I haven't had a chance to eat dinner yet." He nodded toward a plate a couple of chairs down, covered with a silver dome. "I had them keep something warm for you; I didn't know if you'd be hungry when you arrived."

"Lex." She acknowledged back, her voice sounding a little unsure. She made few steps ahead while the brunette left the room to let them alone.

Late? Was there a reason she was supposed to be back? She was getting slightly confused.

"Huh, no thanks, I'm fine..." She lied, refusing the offer. Of course she was hungry, but it didn't really feel like being the right time to eat. Chloe hadn't heard yet of Clark and well, eating with Lex would be something she imagined would piss off few of her friends. "Lex...."

Before she could demand an explanation as he supposed she was dying to do, he gave it to her. "I figured you wouldn't just drop the subject after our conversation earlier, so I imagined I'd see you again tonight. And I don't think, even in my long list of sins, that I've ever been accused of being a rude host."

Chloe remained stand still, arms crossed for a moment. "If you know I'd come, then I'm going to guess that you know why." He could be a total lying bastard at times, yet he always managed to be charming and 'civilized'. Just made her wonder why he had changed so much in the past years.

After a moment, she sighed and sat in front of him, her hands on the table. "Lex, I don't have much time to play now. Do you know where is Lana?"

Lex frowned and sat back at Chloe's question. To tell the truth, he was thrown by the question. "I would imagine she's with Clark," he said slowly. Of course, the whole point was that he was trying to isolate Lana from her friends and loved ones, but even he didn't think he was THAT good. He figured it would take at least a good three days before his plans came to fruition.

He thought for a moment that maybe things between Clark and Lana were so strained that Lana hadn't felt comfortable going to him, but that seemed preposterous. This was CLARK, after all.

Setting his fork on his plate, he pushed his plate aside. If Chloe wasn't going to join him, he couldn't eat - he hadn't been lying about the fact that he was too well-bred to eat in front of someone who wasn't joining in.

Tapping his fingers thoughtfully against the tabletop, he met Chloe's eyes. "I honestly have no idea where Lana might have gone, Chloe. I wish I could help you, but I think it's pretty clear that I didn't know my wife as well as I thought I did."

"We're trying to find her actually..." She looked at him, trying to read this dark blue eyes of his, seeing if there was any tiny part of him lying. But somehow, Chloe believed him. At least, a part of her believed he didn't know where she was. She sighed, looking at her cellphone. Still no call from Clark. Obviously, by now, she should have get a call from Clark, Lana found or not. She wondered what was taking him so long.

After a slight hesitation, Chloe dialed Clark's number but met a dead end. He wasn't picking his phone. Either he was in trouble, which she had no reason to believe he would, either he was having a conversation with Lana. She decided to trust him and went with the second option for now. She sent a text-message to Clark, asking him if Lana was at the cemetery, then looked back at Lex.

"Clark's not picking up. He may have found her..." She said.

"I'm sure he has," Lex said affably when Chloe mentioned that Clark might have tracked Lana down. His momentary curiosity that Lana and Clark might not be on the best of terms already was assuaged. Clark had no doubt recovered from his momentary fit of pique and was well on his way towards forgiving the object of his obsession – oh, right. Devotion, Lex corrected himself wryly.

Chloe's body relaxed a little as she looked at Lex putting his plate away. "Didn't you say you were hungry?" The food seemed good. But hell, pretty much anything looked good right now. She made a mental note to go eat something once she would be out of the Mansion.

She then came back to the reasons that had brought her here, trying not to get distracted by anything else, like food. "Lex, you still haven't told me why exactly why you expecting me."

**

Lex wondered what feelings Chloe harbored for her best friend. He knew she'd had a crush, once upon a time, and if she still felt that way, there was a chance he could use that. Somehow, though, he doubted this was still the case. Would Chloe really befriend Lana in order to sabotage the relationship and improve her own chances with Clark? It was a cunning and devious plan… and while Lex didn't doubt that Chloe could concoct such a scheme, he doubted she was quite so ruthless as to carry it out. So maybe she really had let Clark go. Maybe.

Still, it was an interesting thought.

When she asked if he was still hungry, he gave a small half-shrug. "I would never be so crass as to eat in front of my guest if she isn't doing the same," he admitted. Then, with a devilish smile, he said in a lightly teasing – yet still mocking – manner, "Not that I can blame you for turning it down. You never know when I've decided to poison my guests, do you? On the other hand, I can assure you that I would never do that to anything Chef Louis prepared." He paused, then added, "He'd never forgive me."

All the while, even as he teased Chloe, he tried to deflect attention from the inevitable question – how he knew she was coming. Of course, it only worked for so long and then Chloe did what he knew she would and asked. For a moment, he was quiet as he contemplated the ruby red liquid in his glass.

Honestly, he hadn't been entirely certain she would come tonight, though he knew her curiosity would eventually get the best of her – and it generally happened sooner rather than later. Maybe he had hoped she would come, more than anything. Without Lana in residence, the Mansion was almost eerily quiet, even with all the servants around. And Lex didn't really relish the idea of being alone and having to face the fact that, yet again, the woman he loved didn't really want a thing to do with him and was, in fact, repelled by his very presence.

It was one of those realizations that hurt even as it angered him, and it was only his desire for retribution that really drowned out the pain.

"You don't think in all this time, I've had a chance to get to know you?" he asked ironically, though he didn't take his eyes off his glass. "Of course I'm not surprised you'd come back here to ask me more questions. I'm frankly more astonished you didn't come with an angry mob, ready to burn me at the stake for all of my sins – not the least of which are all of those terrible things I did to sweet, innocent, unsuspecting Lana. I dared to love her. I dared to marry her. I dared to try to make her happy. No wonder I'm the villain of the story." He said this last statement with a wry tilt of his lips.

Finally, he dragged his eyes back to Chloe's and gave her an ironic smile. "Of course I knew you'd be back here, Chloe, because I know that above anything, you want answers. And while I confess I've never understood the friendship between yourself and my wi…Lana, it doesn't tax the imagination too much to assume that you would come to me for answers. But what you – and Clark, no doubt – don't seem to understand is that this is one area where I cannot help you.

"I don't know where Lana would have run to tonight, if not for Clark. I think it's fairly obvious that if she's looking for solace, the last person she'd turn to is me. And I think it's also patently obvious that I'm the last person who would have the first idea what to do to make her happy. After all, I thought our marriage was…" He stopped and fell silent, catching himself before he finished the sentence. He no longer was entirely certain what was part the game and what was bordering on being the truth. Either way, he had no intention of demeaning himself by finishing the sentence, though the word 'real' hovered on the tip of his tongue.

"Lana made it clear tonight that she was only ever with me because Clark rejected her. I was her consolation prize, and the minute she thought she had a chance of making it work with Clark…well, we both know how that ended up. If I was foolish enough to think it was anything more than that, then that's my problem. But if you're here wondering when Lana began to change, when she became the type of person who…" he paused. "If you came to me tonight to try to find out when Lana became the person she is today, then I can't help you. Maybe the question you should be asking yourself instead is whether or not this is the woman she's always been, and we've just been deluding ourselves about her true nature.

"I believed the image that Lana projected was real, so I suppose I got what I deserved. You can take my advice for what it's worth – and I suspect to you and to Clark that isn't a great deal – but be careful trusting Lana too much. Her loyalty will only be given in return so long as it suits her purposes to extend it. And I don't think any of us really know Lana Lang Luthor." He raised his glass in toast. "Least of all the man she married."

He took a sip of his wine, then placed in back on the table. "But maybe you shouldn't listen to me at all. I'm just the man who lost the only woman he's ever truly loved tonight. What do I know?"

**

Chloe chuckled a little at Lex's comment. She hadn't thought bout that option actually. No matter what was their relation, she never had been really worried to be in the same room with Lex. Plus, she had no reasons to worry. Did she? "Oh well, if you insist, I guess I can't really turn down something that has been prepared by him. I know at least I'll survive it." Chloe eyed Lex, then slowly reached for the plate. She was hungry. Was it bad to eat something when you're hungry? didn't seem like an information she'd have to give Clark anyway.

It felt so weird to be in the Mansion, sitting with Lex without Lana or Clark. Of course, she was there because of Lana, but still, this hadn't happen in a long while. Frankly, she realized she didn't know much about Lex. She knew his blood type and that he had the capacity to survive anything (which had made her consider him for a while as a potential meteor freak), even his favorite cereals. She also knew he had dark secrets, some involving 33.1, but… perhaps was there more than meets the eyes? She had never seen how Lana had been able to go from Clark to Lex. They seemed so different. But she could only hope Lana had seen something in him giving hope than Lex still had a chance to become a good man.

Chloe frowned as she listened to Lex. Had he really loved Lana? And had she ever loved him? She had always wondered herself. To be honest, she felt Lana hadn't been happy for at least a month, but she knew it was related to Clark. "You just fell for the wrong woman Lex..." Chloe surprised herself by saying that, but after thinking, it was indeed true. Lana never was meant for Lex. She probably wasn't meant for Clark either. It always had been crystal clear for Chloe that Lex only was a rebound. A way to try to forget Clark. And while everything there was true, she was still surprised that her mouth had once again spoke before thinking. She had never thought she'd have a conversation like this with Lex.

What she was watching in front of her at this moment was a bitter sarcastic Lex, which she could guess was hiding his pain. Hiding it deep down. He was a Luthor after all. She wondered for a moment if Lana had ever seen him sad, a thought she chased quickly, her eyes running from Lex to his glass of wine, then back at him.

She regretted slightly being here alone with Lex. The last thing she wanted was to listen to him trying to turn her against Lana. And she would never have worried about that if she hadn't learn about Lana losing the baby on purpose, to which she still owned her explanations. She wanted to look confident and say she trusted her friend and it was Lex the monster, yet, she had trouble saying it. "Actually, what I have a hard time understanding is that you don't seem to have planned anything to get her back or get vengeance, not that you would tell me of course."

As Lex raised his glass of wine, Chloe frowned a little more. She was starting to wonder whether he was himself or not. "Lex, I think you had enough of this." She said giving a quick look at the glass of wine. She wasn't sure he would be very helpful drunk. Or, in the contrary, maybe he would. Drunk people usually had tendency to say more than they usually allow themself. But she wondered how a drunk Lex was acting. Which Lex was Dr Jekyl and which Mr Hyde.

It wasn't her place to baby-sit, but her hero complex was working inside her. She had to get out soon. "Well, I guess if there is nothing more you can tell me, I shouldn't take more of your time..."

**

With a wry twist of his lips, Lex ignored Chloe's comment that she should go and lifted his glass to her in mock salute. Then he seemed to realize that the glass was empty and he took a moment to frown in befuddlement at it. "Where did all the wine go?" he muttered softly to himself. Swinging his head around, he eyed the bottle. "Ah, it's not a problem. There's plenty more." With only a very slightly unsteady hand, he refilled his glass before turning his attention back to his guest as if he'd momentarily forgotten her presence. "Where was I? Oh, yes..."

Once again lifting his glass in mock salute, he replied, "Had enough? My dear, I've barely begun. I'm not normally one to overindulge, but I think the night a man's marriage dissolves and his wife runs back to her former lover - who, for all I know, was her current lover - after aborting his child out of desperation to be rid of him...I think if, on a night like that, a man's not allowed a little overindulgence...well, I can't imagine when he would be, frankly."

Leaning back in his chair, he took a thoughtful sip of his wine. "You really should join me. The vintage is quite good. It's...hm...well, yet another pretentious bottle of wine bottled by a pretentious winery. But, then again, I live in a castle in the middle of Kansas. It's not exactly like my family is lacking in pretention, is it?"

He caught himself and took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. He didn't want to oversell the drunkenness, but it was a little hard to reign himself in since, in truth, he actually WAS a little tipsy. But, as he'd said, didn't he have the right?

In an abrupt shift of topic, he demanded, "So you think I chose the wrong woman? Maybe you're right. Would you believe that every woman I've married has tried to kill me?" He paused thoughtfully. "Although I have to say that nobody else has given it quite the spectacular effort that Helen put into her plans. She REALLY wanted me dead, and you have to admit that she worked hard to make sure her plans came to fruition. It was almost a shame that I had to go and ruin everything by surviving the plane crash."

He eyed her thoughtfully and then grabbed the bottle and filled her glass, totally heedless of the fact that she'd not asked him to. "You certainly are a surprise, Bright Eyes. You haven't tried to kill me once tonight." With a soft laugh, he amended, "Maybe the urge to do me in comes only after the "I Do"s are said." There was self-depreciation in his voice but no pity. It was like it was all a big joke, if the joke was perhaps only on him.

All the while he spoke, Lex's brain was working furiously to address the bombshell she'd dropped mere moments before. He couldn't just ignore her suspicion that he wanted revenge or she'd not let it go. If he denied it unequivically, she would grow even more suspicious. If he admitted it, she would know his plans.

After falling silent for a moment, he leaned back in his chair. "You're very clever, I give you that, Chloe. You've thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak. Do I want revenge on Lana for what she did to me? If I ignore the question, I look like I have something to hide. You wouldn't believe me for a second if I tried to deny it. But if I admit to it, I seem to be the devil everyone already believes me to be. So what do I have to lose?"

Meeting her eyes again, Lex said softly, "Do I wish vengeance on Lana for what she did to me? Absolutely. I wish I could do to her exactly what she did to me. But all she did to me, really, was stop loving me - if she ever loved me to begin with. And do you think even for a moment that she would give a damn if I stopped loving her? It would be a relief, a tiny bit of unpleasantness in her past that she was able to put behind her. An inconvenience quickly dealt with.

"So I suppose my only recourse is not to give her what she wants. While I grieve over the fact that she never loved me, I..." He paused and swallowed. "I won't stop loving her." A shaky laugh, and then he admitted, wincing because he wasn't entirely certain it wasn't true, "I'm not even sure if I could. That is the only revenge I have left to me - not allowing her to so quickly forget."

He let the full amount of his bitterness seep into his voice as he spoke, the caustic rasp of his voice grating even in his own ears. It wasn't hard. He just had to think of how Lana had told him earlier that she loved him more than anyone in the world. And then left him for Clark not ten minutes later. "She never loved me. She never did, and she never will. But I may be the only person who ever truly knew her, and I loved her anyway. I really did...as much, I suppose, as I'm able to love anyone. And she walked away. When she's trying to live up to the perfect image Clark has in his mind and she fails, I hope that thought keeps her awake at night. That is my revenge, Chloe Sullivan."

He watched her closely as he finished speaking, wondering if he'd gone too far - and why he'd admitted so much. Damn wine. Maybe he really HAD had enough.

**

Chloe almost pity Lex at this moment. She felt sad for him and she had to admit, a tiny 'hurt', in some way. Not because Lex loved Lana, but because men always seemed to love her like she was the only good thing that could ever happened to them. Clark. Jason. And now Lex. A little hint of jealousy took over for a brief moment. What did Lana have that she didn't? Sometimes she wondered, but thinking about it wasn't healthy. Mostly for her relation with Lana.

Now, it was more a worried Chloe that was talking. "Lex, you're not gonna resolve your problems with alcohol." She was about to lean forward and throw the bottle away, but decided otherwise. She had to keep in mind that Lex wasn't one of her friends. She shouldn't care of what he does, as long as it wasn't hurting anyone, of course. But looking at him right now, she felt like going back in time. Three years ago, when they used to work together to bring down his father. Was it possible this Lex was still there somewhere?

Lex kept babbling about his miserable life, as he seemed to depict it. "Lex..." She didn't know what next should follow. Part of her just wanted to tell him to stop whining and get over it. But a more rational part knew he hadn't had an easy life. He was, in fact, pretty much unlucky. Unlucky, or something really was wrong with him. It was hard to tell from her limited point of view.

She ignored the 'bright eyes' comment, altough she was curious as to why all of a sudden, since this afternoon, he had given her a nickname. "It's not funny Lex... And frankly, I don't think you know me as much as you think. Otherwise, you wouldn't be surprised." She leaned back on the chair, arms crossed. "In fact, you never really tried to know me, trough all this years, so don't pretend you know who I am, only because you know I'm a sucker for everything weird happening in Smallville and I'm curious... Because that's something everyone knows about me when they first meet me.."

Chloe didn't know why she was having this conversation with Lex, but somehow, it was something she had had on her chest for a long time. Not something she had ever felt like telling him in any specific situation, but she had always wondered why he had basically stopped talking to her 2 years ago, after she had been back in Smallville. The only reason he had kept talking to her was because of Clark... And now Lana.

Despite some resentment, Chloe couldn't help but sympathize with Lex right now. A second later, after Lex had been telling her he would always love Lana, Chloe was up next to Lex, slowly grabbing Lex's glass from his hand. "I really think you had enough... maybe you should get some sleep..."

Lex actually considered fighting her for the glass. It would be undignified. On the other hand...he was really enjoying his wine! He didn't struggle with her over it, but neither did he let her go. Instead, he shifted his glass slightly so that she had to move a little closer. Then, when she was close, he waited until she glanced up at him.

"Alcohol won't solve my problems, no. But they just might make them more palatable." An inexplicable whim almost made him proposition her for her comment that he should go to sleep, but he regained sanity just in time.

With a wink, he let go of his glass and stepped back. "Well, I suppose that's enough self-pity. I can't really pull it off anyway. But you're wrong, Chloe Ann Sullivan. I do know you. You're astonishingly curious. Foolishly optimistic. Loyal to a fault. Nothing gets you more excited the the strange and unusual. And you're prone to the occasional bit of recklessness, though generally you like to look before you leap." Leaning forward, his eyes twinkled as he teased her, "So what are you doing here now?"

**

Chloe's jaw dropped a little as Lex spoke. She wanted to reply to this, yet she was speechless. It wasn't that what he said were personal information, but the way he had depicted her. The tone of his voice. The fact that he hadn't hesitated a bit. The sparks in his dark blue eyes looking right into hers. Somehow, it was… intimidating.

And then she thought about it. What was she doing here? Why was she still here? She had to get out. She shouldn't be here. Chloe looked up then slightly shook her head. "I guess I was trying to... *pause* help an old friend..." Of a the thing she could have said, she had to sound more 'Chloe' than ever. She frowned slightly. "I guess it was a mistake..."

Lex frowned. There she was, saying she was about to leave. Again. Not that he particularly longed for her company, but he wasn't too eager to begin the process of growing accustomed to long lonely nights in a castle that had long ago proven to be better at trapping people within than keeping people out. And he really wasn't eager to learn how to sleep alone, again - after spending so many nights lying by Lana's side, letting himself drift off to sleep by listening to the steady pattern of her breathing.

Unbidden, a memory came to mind - //_As he climbed into bed next to her, Lana rolled over and flung an arm across his chest, scooting close to him so that she could lay her head on his chest. "I love you, Lana," he'd whispered. "I love you," she'd replied sleepily_// But now, of course, he wondered who, in that state between sleep and awake, she'd been talking to. He had assumed at the time that she'd been speaking to him, but now he wondered. Had she been dreaming of Clark at the time?

Every damn memory he cherished of the time he'd spent with his wife was tainted now. Had she left nothing for him when she'd gone?

Lex turned away from Chloe abruptly, frustrated with himself. Clearly that wine had been a bad idea; it hadn't taken away his problems, it had just made it more difficult for him to push them from his thoughts. Thoughts he did not want the annoyingly observant Ms. Sullivan to see. He supposed it was good that he'd learned that the best defense was a good offense.

"Ah, yes," he said harshly. "Of course. You guys are like the Three Musketeers. 'All for one and one for all.'" He scoffed. "Undying loyalty and self-sacrifice...at least on your end, I imagine. It's unclear whether you realize just how tenuous those binds are. But as long as you can fool yourself into thinking that your old friends are loyal, I suppose that's enough, isn't it? For a woman who's astonishingly observant, you're also pathetically blind.

"Who did you come over here to help, tonight? Lana? Or Clark?" He didn't even bother to wonder if there was a chance she wanted to help him; that possibility was so remote as to be ludicrous.

Lex was angry and frustrated, and he didn't know if he wanted to beg Chloe to stay so he wouldn't have to be alone or kick her to the curb so he didn't have to see her judge him - as he knew she did - or hear her admit that everyone else knew that Lana marrying Lex would be a disaster and they'd been surprised that he'd fooled himself into thinking it was real.

It didn't take much for him to remind himself how much he hated Lana - how much he wanted to destroy her. And then, in a flash of inspiration, he knew exactly what to do. One more nail in the coffin.

He knew he sounded like he was ranting - a drunken fool revealing more than he intended to. Why dispel her of that notion now? His mind working quickly, he shot out, hoping she would consider this statement, like all the others he had unintentionally made this evening, an unwitting revelation "You're playing with fire, and you don't even know it. You're so eager to try to save Lana's ass, to absolve her of all responsibility for her actions, like you always do. You'd throw yourself on your sword for her, wouldn't you? And you have no idea, no idea, do you, how little it would take for her to sell you out, just like she d..."

He stopped abruptly, as if he'd realized what he was about to say, and frowned. Then, as if trying to cover a blunder, he stepped close to her - as if hoping that his proximity would provide a distraction for the words he almost said - and met her eyes as he murmured softly, "I don't know how you thought that I would be of any help to you, Chloe, and I don't know who it is that you're trying to save here tonight. I know it's not me," he added with a wry smile. "Maybe you should think about saving yourself for once."

With any luck, Chloe would have picked up on what he'd been about to say and would suspect Lana of betraying Clark - or at least being willing to. And if there was one person that Chloe protected before anyone else, it was Clark. (Wasn't it always? It was always, always Clark.) If it wouldn't have ruined the image he was trying to project, Lex would have smiled. He schooled his face into an expressionless mask, instead, however, as he waited to see what Chloe would do. Oh, this was about to get interesting.

**

Chloe froze on plce when Lex got closer to her. There was something in his eyes. She had to look away. Too much closure and anger in one night. This never was good. Good thing she hadn't been drinking tonight...

"What are you talking about?" Lex kept saying that she had to be careful and while a part of her may believe him and may even know why, but she just couldn't allow herself to look as if she had doubts. Lex couldn't be trusted. It was a mistake to trust him. At least, that,s what she preferred to think.

Who did she want to save? Chloe wasn't sure anymore to be honest. She was wondering if she had any intentions of saving Lana in first place. She was ready to do anything to help her, but since the beginning, something felt not right.

"Did what?" He had done it again, giving hints about Lana. She might have had doubts of his intentions if he had been sober, but at this moment, she was falling right into the trap. Chloe was curious. She wanted to know more. Ok, she was sick of talking about Lana and if the situation hadn't looked like a crisis, she probably would have taken the bottle of wine for herself and get drunk. She was tired of being in Lana's shadow. What did she have that every guy were falling in love with her? It was frustrating. But now, it wasn't time to look like if affected. Not here. Not now.

"What Lex? I think you should end what you started. That is, if you really know something that we should all be aware of. Come on Lex, instruct me."

Lex didn't move away. "You know, Sullivan, I don't think you're in the right frame of mind. You need to get more in the swing of things. So, I tell you what. I'm not going to tell you one more thing...unless you have a glass of wine with me." He grinned. "You only live once, right? Or are you afraid of what might happen?" he teased because, really, what were the odds of that?

"Besides, as a reporter, I should think you would be familiar with the concept of 'quid pro quo'. Seems like I've been doing the lion's share of confessionals tonight, and you haven't exactly been holding up your end. So I suggest a trade. I'll answer your questions...if you agree to answer mine. A little friendly exchange; what do you say? You can ask me anything. I'll even try to answer you honestly," he added with a wink. "BUT...as I said...you have to join me in a drink. Unless you're afraid of what you might find out...?" he dared with a supercilious arch of an eyebrow.

He didn't really know what he'd ask her, so the dare was a little ridiculous. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see exactly how much it took before Chloe flinched. And, with any luck, if he played this the right way, he'd have Chloe eating from the palm of his hand in no time.

Chloe's mouth opened but nothing came out. At least at first. So now he was gambling for information? She wondered whether it worth it or not. She looked at her watch then back at Lex. It wasn't that late and Chloe hadn't heard from Clark and maybe he wasn't going to.

She slightly frowned at his comments. He was just having fun there, having some sort of power on Chloe. And if it hadn't been that she was curious, she'd just turn around and leave. But of course, she couldn't take that chance. And it wasn't like a glass of wine was such a bad thing.

No, Chloe couldn't leave. She took it as a challenge. "Afraid? I'm sorry, you're talking to the wrong person."

Chloe looked at her cellphone and closed it. There was no need to be disturbed. She then took a glass in her hand and looked back at Lex, not afraid to take the challenge. "So let's get started, shall we?" As she took a sip of the wine.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks for the comments. Keep the feedback coming! :D

**Chapter 7:Verbal Judo**

Lex had to admit, he was surprised. He'd expected her to back down. That was interesting. Walking over to the nearby cabinet, he opened a bottle of wine and grabbed two glasses. Then he gestured for Chloe to follow him and walked her back to the study, to sit on the chairs before the fire. "We might as well be comfortable," he said as he poured them both a glass.

"Thanks..." She said as she accepted the glass of wine and sat on a chair. She was a little reluctant to drink along with Lex, who already wasn't totally himself, with what he had already drink. She had to use it at her own advantage as much as she could.

Lex looked at Chloe and said, in all seriousness: "Now, I suppose it's my turn to ask you a question. So how does a woman like you let yourself play second fiddle to Lana all the time?"

Chloe almost choked as she heard Lex. What kind of question was that! If she had doubts about Lana's behaviors, she still didn't think it felt right to talk against her. And surely not in front of Lex.

She had to think. And fast. "I don't get where you are going with this, Lex. I'm not going to spit my venom on Lana to help you feel better." Anything to avoid the question.

The wine was good, she had to admit. Chloe took another sip, frowning a little, but more in a curious way than in any other way. "And what kind of woman would I be?" Hopefully, all of this would help her elude the question. Though now, she had lost her turn to ask a question.

Lex couldn't quite stifle his chuckle. "It's admirable, how quickly you're willing to jump to Lana's defense. But, rest assured, I have no intention of asking you to spit virulence about her. I may be wounded at the moment, but I was telling you the truth when I told her I love her. And, believe me, I know better than most that loyalty is as admirable as it is rare." Taking a sip of his wine, he paused and then said, "My interest this evening isn't in my erstwhile wife. I'm more interested in you at the moment."

"Me?" It was more of a rhetorical question, since she had perfectly heard him, but wondered how in the world tonight was about her. She wondered how they had gone from trying to get information about Lana to speaking about Chloe. "But..." She didn't finish her sentence. It seemed useless to insist. And it didn't mean that she couldn't ask questions about Lana. She was a little glad she wouldn't spend the night speaking about Lana to be honest. That wasn't the most interesting conversation possible and she had been trough that a lot with Clark.

"And how does me, being here tonight, means… Wait…" Chloe paused. "Never mind. That doesn't count as a question." If she was going to answer by asking questions related to everything he said, she would never get to the end of her means.

Because he didn't want to put her on the defensive too early, Lex decided to slow down a bit. It had been a tactical error, hitting her with both barrels too soon. He should wait until she's had more to drink. So he was willing to let the fact that she never answered her question go...for the moment.

Her question to him would have been boring, coming from anyone else. A patently obvious search for compliments. But Chloe wasn't anyone else, and he found it hard, if not impossible, to believe that she would go looking to him for compliments if she felt a need to have her ego assuaged. No, from Chloe, such a question was a double-edged sword.

Still, the best way to address her question without revealing too much was to treat it dismissively, as if it were coming from anyone else. "You really need to ask? You get yourself into far more trouble than you should, given the fact that you're generally more cautious than some. Maybe you've learned from mistakes your impulsiveness has landed you into in the past." He paused consideringly. "Though your presence here tonight would suggest otherwise. Smart. Canny. Always looking for the truth, even when your own best interests would be served looking the other way. Loyal to a fault. Perhaps even to your own detriment."

He paused again and then fired off a question of his own. "So tell me...I know you had a crush on Clark for quite some time. Longer, certainly, than he ever realized. Does he still hold the same place in your heart today, or have you moved on?"

He was going to ease her into the questions he really wanted answered, but he definitely wanted to keep her a little unbalanced on the way.

*

And there we go. If it wasn't about Lana, it had to be about Clark. This one was easier though. Six years of her life had been enough. She had been resigned for a moment now, knowing Lana would always be the first and with time, her feelings had grown more into genuine friendship.

"No, I don't. I've given up on these a while ago."

Chloe looked at her glass, as she started to feel a little heat on her cheeks, then back at Lex. "What about you? Still have an obsession over Clark?"

Lex threw her his best innocent "Who, me?" expression, then he laughed. "I suppose. In the end, I don't think there's anything particularly remarkable about Clark except how he so easily gains everyone's loyalty, even when he doesn't deserve it." He scowled. "Of course, if Lana were to be believed, there really is more to him beneath the surface, but..." He paused with a sigh, "Even if there is something remarkable about Clark, I don't think finding it will give me the answers I'm looking for."

Chloe was trying to read Lex's eyes, wondering whether he was telling the truth or not. Could he really stop his obsession over a man who had the power to get Lana whenever he wanted. She always had suspected, mostly in the beginning, that Lex had a crush on Lana only because she was Clark's most precious thing. She wondered for half a second whether the story would be different if Chloe had been in Lana's place in Clark's heart all this time. Chloe shook her head and finished her glass of wine after which Lex pourred a new one.

Now it was Lex turn to ask a question again. He'd noticed the strange look that had crossed her face before she'd answered the last question, and he pondered it. "And what are you looking for, Chloe? What is it that drives you on?"

Her obsession? Chloe thought and realized the answer was right into her face. She had a little laugh just thinking about it. "I'm surprised you're asking the question Lex. Even that is the first thing you talked to me about the first time we met. The inexplicable." She paused and almost forgot what the whole situation that was surrounding them. "I always had a thing for inexplicable. At some point in my life, it used to be my obsession…"

Now it was her turn to ask a question. Chloe thought about it as she took another sip. It seemed like each sip was easier to take. Made her feel almost a little better. She wished things in life weren't so complicated. Maybe she would have enjoyed moment like this a little more. She could talk about Lana. it was the main reason she had accepted this drink after all. But god she was tired to talk about her. Maybe a little break before going back in the subject wasn't so bad and if things turned out ugly, she would throw back the question and leave.

"I got one. Why did you stay in Smallville? I mean, obviously before this whole Lana crush. When you finally got to be the CEO of LuthorCorp, what stopped you from moving away of this small quiet town where you've been threatened so many times by so many people..."

Lex shrugged. "I get threatened everywhere; that's hardly new. I suppose I stay here because...I have friends here. Or I did. People I cared about. Maybe it's time to move on, though."

Her glass was empty again. Chloe hadn't realized she had been drinking more than she had intended to in first place. And since she hadn't eaten in few hours, she could feel the effects of the wine in her stomach, the heat going out of her body. She was sitting but guessed she'd feel it even more if she had to walk. And more than anything, she almost forgot why she was there.

"I'm sorry it turned out this way..." She unwillingly admitted, about the 'friends' subject.

Lex topped off her glass again and then took another sip of his own. Was it time to...no. Not yet. She was pretty tipsy, but she wasn't that far gone. She was, however, intriguingly not entirely sober. He wondered, sometimes, about Chloe Sullivan. Of course, he wasn't a man who took advantage of a woman who wasn't willing (or was incapacitated) - he didn't need to; there were plenty of women who were - but back when they had worked together in a semi-amiable relationship, when he'd saved her life, he'd thought for a moment... plus, she remembered what they'd talked about when they first met, so maybe he wasn't entirely off base.

Curious about his little theory, he leaned forward and brushed some hair gently off her cheek, just wanting to see how she'd react. Maybe she wouldn't...but, then again, maybe she would.

"What did you really come looking for here tonight, Chloe?" he asked softly as he brushed her hair back. He wondered if his proximity was throwing her off balance. "The truth about Lana, or the truth about me? Or is there something else your inexhaustible curiosity is trying to figure out?"

Chloe slightly frowned as Lex approached, but didn't move. She was a little frozen on place. They were so close from each other. Chloe blushed without realizing it, although it might have been hard to see it since her cheeks were already a pink, thanks to the wine.

She wanted to look away and she would if she had been entirely sober, but right now, she was looking into Lex's eyes, unable to move or talk, as if she was under some sort of spell.

After a moment, Chloe finally found her voice, looking away. "You? Of course not... I'm here... Lana. I'm here for Lana." She had to regain some balance. Get back to her senses. Harder than it should have been. Damn wine.

"I guess we have been a little off-topic." She cleared her throat, looking back into Lex's eyes, fighting thoughts she knew she would regret so bad in the morning. Thoughts that made her regret he was Clark's enemy and Lana's husband. Thoughts that drove her to take a big sip of her 3rd glass of wine, as if she was trying to chase the thoughts by drinking, which was horribly the worst idea ever.

"So, erhm, yeah about Lana... You have told me several times about being careful without saying why... Would you mind telling me why now?" Hopefully, this would do it. Get back to their initial, but oh so boring, conversation.

Lex arched an eyebrow as he assessed Chloe's reaction. Well, now, that was interesting. He filed it away for later. And if he hadn't been entirely mistaken, she'd seemed a little uncertain about the fact that she'd come over for Lana's sake, so perhaps his plan was already showing some results.

Damn. He forced himself not to scowl when she asked her question. She would ask that, wouldn't she. With a slight frown, he sat back and pondered how best to answer her question. How to give a little away without giving away too much? Should he pretend like he knew more than he did, or should he admit to knowing nothing but make it clear that this was not due to lack of trying on Lana's part?

Damn damn damn. Every time he thought he had Chloe pegged, she surprised him.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about Lana," he said lightly, hedging the issue. "I am not particularly interested in trying to turn you against her, but you might want to ponder in the future whether or not you really want the answer to a question before you ask it. Do you really want to risk finding out something about Lana that you didn't want to know?"

He paused again, then gave her a half-shrug. "In response to your question, as hard as this may be to believe, I didn't make it a habit to ask my wife about Clark. Foolishly, I found I was not particularly interested in making it a three-person marriage, and on the chance that she was as loyal to Clark as you are to him, I didn't want to risk driving her away. I gave up my - as you call it, my obsession - with him, in part, for her.

"It was no great secret, however, that Lana was very interested in Clark. I tried not to ask her about it because..." he sighed, "Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't trust myself not to push too much. The problem with trying to let an obsession go is that it's entirely too easy to fall back into it. For Lana's sake, I didn't want to take that chance." He paused and took a sip of his wine.

"I suppose I should have found it curious, those hints she would occasionally drop about how very special Clark is. About all of those secrets of his that she knew, that she knew that I would want to know. I wondered why she'd do such a thing, when she offered to...well, when she made it clear that she was willing to answer any question I put to her about Clark, but I thought that, perhaps, she was...testing me, I suppose you could say. Testing my devotion to her." He smiled wryly. "She did like to do that on occasion, you know. And I figured that, in her mind, she wanted to make sure that my feelings for her had nothing to do with Clark. I didn't blame her for it."

He frowned and took a sip of his wine. "My turn." He pondered what next to ask. "Why do you constantly let Lana get everything that you want? Why don't you ever take the chance and just take it for yourself?"


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you automngold for the feedback... This one is dedicated to you ;) All I can say is.. keep having hope!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Hope**

//"Why do you constantly let Lana get everything that you want? Why don't you ever take the chance and just take it for yourself?"//

Well, that was unexpected. Lex hadn't intended to ask her that, since it didn't suit his own purposes at all. But he found that he was intrigued by Chloe, and he was genuinely curious why she'd constantly content herself with standing on the sidelines when she could so very easily get into the game.

**

Lex finally had made a move backwards. Chloe sighed silently and felt somewhat relieved. The tension had built so much that she didn't know what next would have happened if Lex had been insisting. Chloe was trying to stay on place, but she was starting to feel a little too warm and slightly dizzy. She thought about taking her coat off, but somehow, she felt uncomfortable.

Once again, Chloe took a sip of her wine that devilishly tasted really good. Too good for her own sake.

Chloe would have choke if she had been drinking or eating, but instead, her jaw dropped at the question. He had asked something similar before, hadn't he? She wasn't so sure anymore... She tried to think of an honest, yet not too openhearted answer. "It's not like that Lex. There is no competition between Lana and me. And for the only thing we ever wanted at the same time, well there was no competition."

Chloe paused and pondered. "Actually, it's not true. I did try to once. Back in high school, when we were freshman. I did and I thought for a moment I had won. I thought I had Clark for me." She let out a little laugh, semi sarcastic, semi upset. "But I was wrong. Like you were with Lana. See, I realized with the years that there was no point in fighting something so... powerful?" She thought about the last word and laughed a little, clearly because of the wine. "Well, powerful, destiny, love, call it whatever you want, in the end it just mean that no one ever stood a chance. Not sure someone will ever..."

Going back in her freshman memories, Chloe realized how ridiculous the situation was. And how Clark had always been about Lana. And how Chloe had always been at his side, while his obsession had no problem finding new boyfriends... Of course, now she didn't care about him. He would come back to her and apologize for all those years, she wouldn't give a damn.

Chloe looked at her glass, then back at Lex and smirked. "Well… I guess we have something in common. Although, well, I didn't marry my obsession."

"What was the question already? Oh yeah... Why I don't fight a little more to win. Well, if you take out the men factor, I don't see in what else she'd be a competition to me." Not that she wanted it to seem pretentious, but Chloe meant it. Who was the brain in any rescue operation? Chloe. Who was the sidekick to superheroes? Chloe. When anyone has a problem who they come running to?

It was like she had trouble stopping talking. Lex had opened her door. A door she had fight to keep it close. Close for oh so long. And now that she was opening it, it had to be in front of Lana's soon to be ex husband. "So, tell me, while we're speaking about it... And far from me to be compared to her, but... what do you guys find so remarkably attractive in Lana?"

*

Lex shrugged at Chloe's response to his question. "I think if you really wanted Clark, Chloe, you could have gone after him. And for all he professes to love Lana, I don't think it would have taken very much for you to win him over. In fact, I remember..." He let his voice trail off. Truth be told, his memory was a little fuzzy right at the moment. Maybe it was the wine.

Then his head jerked at her next question, and he looked at her in dumbfounded amazement. Nobody had ever asked him that question before. Maybe because nobody ever thought it was a question that needed asking. "Why is Lana so attractive?" he parroted.

Then he opened his mouth to answer, thought twice about it, and shut it again. Come to think of it, it wasn't a bad question. He let his mind drift back to all the time he'd spent with her, and finally, he managed to regain enough presence of mind to reply. If his voice was a little less than steady, it was certainly the wine that was to blame.

"Lana's...she's...There's something about her, Chloe. One minute she's so...strong, and then the next...there's something fragile about her. She has this way of looking at a man...well, she had this way of looking at me...like she sees everything inside of you, and it doesn't matter. Like she honestly believes that you can become the man that she imagines you to be. And even when you find out that it's not true, that she maybe doesn't even really see you at all, it doesn't matter anymore. You want to be the man she's looking at when she's looking at you.

"I don't know why everyone else loves Lana, Chloe, I can only tell you that, for a while...she actually made me feel like I was a better man than I know myself to be. And maybe she was the last shot I'll ever have of having what other people have." Okay, the wine definitely took control of that sentence there. He frowned and shook his head, as if trying to shake off the cobwebs. "She was so...there's something about her that makes you believe that if you just...if you just do everything right, she'll always love you. She'll always see you as that person she wants you to be. And I think...I think I thought that if I could make it work with her...I guess I could have with her something I doubt I'll ever have with anyone else.

"She didn't care about my money, Chloe, or my family name, or what I could give her. She just cared about the man she wanted me to be. And I guess...I guess to a certain extent, I thought, if I couldn't love her...then there's no chance I'll ever love anybody. And then maybe I really am the man the world believes me to be."

Clearing his throat, he looked away from her. He couldn't meet her eyes, and he didn't want to ponder how much of what he'd just said had been the truth. Scowling, he asked the first question that came to mind in an attempt to deflect attention from his comments. With a grimace, he asked, "I'd ask why everyone loves Clark, but I've had a lovely evening and don't want to top it off by vomiting. So what about you, Chloe? You asked what I think of you...what do you think about me? Am I really the Devil I never wanted to be?"

Okay, that wasn't what he'd been intending to ask, but he'd die before he took it back and betrayed the fact that he was a little afraid of her answer.

**

Chloe looked at her empty glass and pondered whether to take another one or not. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, yet wasn't it already too late to wonder? She let out a soft sigh as he mentioned she might have had Clark. "Well, if it had been the case, I guess that would surely have been a good help for your marriage." And then she thought about something and had a little laugh. "Although, she probably would have stayed in France and she'd probably still be with Jason!" And then she laughed a little again. It was inappropriate, yet she had taken a too much wine to even care.

Hearing Lex speak about Lana made her realize she was rather more cynical than she thought about Lana. She just wanted to argue with him. But everything she thought, she tried to keep it to herself.

Chloe realized how blind Lex had been. Like Clark. Even the man who usually could predict almost anything and get himself prepared for any situations hadn't seen it coming. Maybe Chloe had been fooling herself too with the years. And having Lex declaring his love about Lana to Chloe was upsetting her. She didn't know why. Unless maybe it was because she just was tired of hearing the same arguments from Lex. It was as if she was listening to Clark. Enough was enough.

There was one thing Chloe kept hearing in his plea and it made her feel a little sad for Lex though. Truth to be told, Chloe thought Lex had given up on being a good man. But apparently, it didn't seem so. She felt like seeing the Lex she had come to known 3 years ago. And she wondered for a moment, if they had been friends, as much as he had been with Clark and Lana, would they still be friends? Could have she helped him avoiding turning dark?

//Loyal to a fault//

Chloe had a little smile at the thought. Maybe he needed her more than Clark did. Lex was only trying to find loyalty and affection from someone. And clearly he had been blind enough to think it would be from Lana.

This time, it was Chloe who got closer to Lex. She put one of her hand on Lex's hand, showing somehow, some kind of support. She spoke softly. "Lex, you should never give up."

"Lana isn't the only woman in the world who could love you for who you are." Ok. That hadn't come out exactly like she intended to, but she didn't realize it herself. "I'm sure there is a woman out there who isn't after your money. Who doesn't have an ex boyfriend she can't forget about and who surely would be genuine about her feelings." Her thumb slightly rubbed Lex's hand, as she kept looking at him with her soft expression on her face. There was just something about Lex looking sad. As if she could see the kid in him. His softer side. She wondered for a second if Lana had ever seen him like that.

She chuckled as she thought about his question. "To be honest, I've never known what to think of you. One day, you are the guy I would put my life into his hands and the next day I trying to stop you from hurting a meteor freak." She paused and made sure to continue when she was sure Lex was looking at her, and not avoiding. "I don't think you are..." She didn't like the world 'evil'. It might be a little too powerful. "You seem to have taken the wrong path, but… I don't think it's irreversible. It's never too late to go back on your steps." She chuckled a little. It was true that she never thought Lex was entirely evil. Not good either. But there was hope... Was there?

"I like to think that optimism is one of my quality..." She added with a little smile.

**

Lex almost laughed. Chloe was an unexpected pleasure when she was drunk. A little bit less of a pleasure when she was laughing over his travesty of a marriage, but if it weren't for the fact that he was the one on the losing end of the deal, he'd probably think it was pretty funny too. Actually, wine made everything funny.

Wait...was she flirting with him? For a second, he could have sworn...

Clearing his throat, he said a bit uncomfortably, "Says the girl who's best friends with Clark. He may have skewed your perception...and be a major source of your inappropriate optimism. The real world doesn't always work that way."

"And you forgot to ask me a question," he said with a wink, leaning forward gently to take the wine glass out of her hand. If he wasn't mistaken, she'd had more than enough. He wondered if she'd been telling the truth when she said there was nothing Lana had that she wanted. And he wondered, if it was a lie, what it was that she wanted. "I think you've had enough," he said gently, assessing her.

**

"You know, for almost a minute there, we were actually having a conversation that had nothing to do with Lana or Clark." Chloe let Lex take her empty glass, acknowledging that it was enough. "And no, my optimism has nothing to do with him. You know, I have my own personality and my own life. Not everything evolves around him in my case."

"I think...it would be a good idea for you to stay here tonight." Wrapping his arm around her waist, Lex prepared to steady her if she tried to rise to her feet. Even as tipsy as he was, she was far worse than he, and he was determined she'd stay at the Mansion tonight if he had to lock her in a room.

"The night here?" Chloe stood up and she felt his arms wrapped around her waist. Indeed, she slightly stumbled, but it was mainly due to the fact that she had been drinking all this time sitting in a chair. She was also surprised to find his hands on her waist. "No, no... I should get home..." She was slightly disturbed by Lex's touch and she didn't know. And clearly, she didn't want to know why. It was time to go. Now. "I really should go..."

But then, she thought about it. How would she get home? No cabs. She couldn't drive for the moment and maybe it was too late in the night to wait to sober up. Chloe obviously couldn't call Clark or Lana. Could she show up at her apartment like that, with Lois there? No. She would have too much to explain. She didn't want any of her friends seeing her like that. Not since it involved Lex.

Oh god. Chloe had already made few steps ahead, but stopped. She was screwed. She knew it. It was Lex's fault. What if he had planned this?! Nevertheless, it was her own fault in the end. She had accepted the wine. She could have stopped. But didn't. What was wrong with her?

Chloe turned around and looked at Lex and deeply sighed. She looked so tortured at the thought of accepting. She knew she would regret it. Wasn't she already regretting this whole situation?! She cleared her throat. "Erhm... Well.. I guess I... I guess I should..."

Lex chuckled and tried to alleviate some of Chloe's fears. "I think talking about the two of them is less dangerous than the two of us talking about ourselves or each other. Don't you?" he teased. "I mean, if all we ever talked about was the two of us, think about what we might discover about each other. You might even come to like me, and then I'm pretty certain that life as we know it will come to an end. The world will stop spinning on its axis. The great civilizations of the world will fall. There will be plagues of locusts, boils, and all of the other seven signs of the Apocalypse." With the corners of his mouth twitching into a smile, he winked at her as he helped her to her feet and walked her slowly to the door. "I think it's better if we don't take our chances, don't you?"

Very slowly, Lex helped her up the stairs and guided her towards a guest suite. If he were any more sober, he'd have tried to pick her up to carry her there, but given his state of inebriation, it was probably best if he didn't try. He'd probably fall over and the two of them would break their necks as they fell down the stairs.

Chloe's heart was beating faster than it should have been. She couldn't tell if it was either because of the alcohol or the closeness with Lex. It was really a good thing that she had stop drinking. She didn't want to now how this could have ended.

Throwing open the bedroom door, he walked her inside and helped her onto the bed. Then he released her quickly and took a big step back. "Don't worry, Chloe. You'll be perfectly safe here tonight. I promise. But if you're still worried, the door locks from the inside."

Once Lex released her, Chloe remained on her back, but raised her body by resting her elbows on each side of her body. She considered him for a moment. "I know." She spoke softly. As they both stared at each other for a moment, Chloe wondered how this whole "war" had even started, between Lex and Clark and by extension, Chloe. And maybe this whole night was part of a bigger plan. Maybe she was falling in a trap. But if this was a war, she had just lost the first battle.

While she always considered her capacity of trusting people and being kind as qualities, sometimes it also were her weaknesses. And right at this very moment, she couldn't tell yet which one they were.

Lex stood in front of her feeling slightly awkward. He felt like there was something else he should say or do, but he didn't know what. And he was strangely reluctant to leave and return to his bedroom alone. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he said on a burst of inspiration, "I'll be staying in the room across the hall if you need anything." It wasn't the master suite, but he didn't really want to return to that bed anyway. Maybe he'd burn the damn thing. "Uh...I'll have someone bring up a glass of water and put it outside; you're going to want to drink some tonight before you go to bed or you'll wish you had tomorrow."

Since he'd pretty much covered everything, he should probably go and let her get some sleep. So he had no idea why he still stood there and stared at her.

Chloe softly smiled as he mentioned the water. "Thanks." The night seemed on the end. Lex seemed to have finished talking, yet he was there. And Chloe didn't know what much she could add now, yet she didn't mind him staying.

She actually didn't know what time it was. She didn't care. There was one thing on her mind though. Something she had to tell Lex before he would leave. Before she would obviously decide not to tell him, the next day. "Lex... Don't think everyone gave up on you." She paused.

"Because I didn't."

Lex didn't know how to feel about Chloe's confession. Should he be suspicious of her intentions? Happy that there was at least one person out there who might still believe in him? Should he take into account that she was drunk and probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning? Should he be sorry that, even if what she said was true, he was using her to get revenge on his ex-wife - her friend?

Okay, that last one he should almost certainly feel, but he couldn't afford the luxury of regret. "Perhaps I put all my faith in the wrong woman, then," he admitted to himself, not really recognizing that he'd spoken the words aloud until after he'd done so. With a small shake of his head, he said more forcefully, "It's too bad, then, that it's too late to do anything about it." It was too late for a lot of things.

Whirling, Lex stalked over to the door, eager to get to bed and sleep off his inebriation. In the morning, Chloe would no doubt do her best to pretend that this entire conversation hadn't happened, and Lex would no doubt be eager to join her in the charade.

"Good night, Chloe," he said at the door as he prepared to leave her for the evening.

Chloe felt bad for Lex. Maybe behind the facade of a strong careless man who always seemed in control, there was a man who lacked self esteem and confidence. She usually wasn't the type to give up too easily on something or someone and refused to think that he was giving up on himself. "It's never too late."

Soon, she looked Lex at the door. She didn't know what tomorrow would be made of, but she hoped tonight's conversation and certainly the last part would still mean something.

"Goodnight, Lex."

On this, Chloe waited for Lex to close the door. She remained on her back, looking at the ceiling for a while, trying to figure out what were those things troubling her mind. And why she cared more about Lex than she would ever thought.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you again for the feedbacks! Keep up feeding me with comments :D More Chlex to come!

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**Chapter 9: The Morning After Last Night**

After Lex wished Chloe a good night, he walked across the hall to one of the guest rooms and fell into a deep alcohol-induced state, blissfully free of any nightmares or inner demons.

The next morning, however, he awoke and wished he could die. It wouldn't take much, he mused as he threw the cover over his face. In fact, if the pounding in his head got any worse, he was pretty sure his head would just explode and take care of all the messy business for him.

After ten minutes of praying for death to take him, however, he faced the unwelcome realization that the little men with sledghammers inside his head, trying to knock his teeth loose, weren't going to go that little extra mile just because he hoped they would, and he began the slow process of getting out of bed. When the sunlight streaming through the windows seared through his eyeballs and nearly blinded him, however, it took another good five minutes of wimpering under the covers for him to get up the nerve to move.

He was a Luthor, damn it, he told himself fiercely. He shouldn't be felled by OH DEAR GOD, WHAT WAS THAT SOUND???

"What?" he barked, and a member of his staff cracked open the door she had been gently tapping on and said softly, "I have your breakfast tray, Mr. Luthor."

"Great," he grumbled. "There's no need to shout about it. Just put it down on the table. And...ugh...could you make sure that something is prepared for Miss Sullivan across the hall? She'll probably need a glass of wine with breakfast - if she argues about it, tell her I said it will make her feel a little better. And if she asks you to kill her and put her out of her misery...while I certainly understand the desire, do inform her that I consider it rude to murder my guests before breakfast."

As the staff member walked out, Lex winced at the quiet latching of the door, which reverberated through his skull. About that wanting to die, thing...

Well, it wasn't getting any better, so he climbed slowly and painfully out of bed and walked over to his breakfast tray. Even the sight of food made him queasy, but he picked up a slice of toast anyway and ate it slowly before making his way out into the hall and down to his study, where he prepared for himself a glass of wine. Nothing like the hair of the dog that bit you to get rid of a hangover. Black drapes, he concluded as he sat behind his desk. The stained glass windows in this familiar room could definitely be improved by some black drapes.

Staring blearily at some paperwork in front of him, Lex tried to work past the agony. When Chloe awoke, she was doubtless going to feel the worse for wear - probably worse than he did - and he was going to have to find a way to get her home without causing her too much trouble. (There was nothing to be had in arousing Lana's suspicions, after all.) For the moment, however, he was going to concentrate on breathing without throwing up.

In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth...

******

It felt so good. Chloe didn't remember when was the last time she had been so comfortable. And slowly, as she started to 'think', she awoke and felt a slight headache. And so hungry.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Where was she already? Oh... yeah.. Now she remembered. She remembered where she was. Why she was hungry. And what explained the headache. A night with Lex Luthor and wine = something totally unexpected and a small hangover.

Soon, Chloe turned her attention to the glass of water and finished it. And as if someone had read her mind, she heard knocking at the door. She left the bed and opened the door carefully, thinking it was Lex.

The maid was there with a food tray. "Oh, huh... Thanks..." She looked at the wine and arched a brow. "Not sure I want to touch that for a while." But the maid insisted. "He said that? He want to kill me or what?" For an unknown reason, the maid laughed. Chloe thanked again the woman and closed the door. She sat on the bed and considered the food and the wine. Could have been a rose instead, she thought sarcastically. After hesitation, Chloe finally started to eat. And her stomach couldn't be more happier about it. Finally, she was eating! While she would have preferred coffee, she sighed and took few sips of the wine. Not bad, but she wasn't used to drink in the morning.

And what about Lex? Was he feeling well? The thought of a hangover Lex amused her, but soon her thoughts were back on the 'problem'. She remembered everything about last night. Well, maybe some of those were distorted or she hadn't pick up on the details, but basically, she remembered their conversation. And she felt so embarrassed for what she had said. Mostly towards the end. Her cheeks became red just thinking about it. The worst in all of this is that she meant those. But to say it out loud was so much different than just 'thinking' it.

And there was Lana. And Clark. Oh god Clark! She was relieved he hadn't found her, but had he try to call her? Since she hadn't spent the night at her apartment, what would she tell Lois? And Clark? And Lana? At this moment, Chloe felt terribly bad. She felt torn between being supportive of her friends - and god knows she always had been like that - and feeling like giving Lex somehow a chance of proving he wasn't that bad. She felt like she wanted to know him more. Erasing the last 3 years. Ok, it wasn't possible. And maybe it was just a delusional hangover thought of a rather optimist and loyal girl, but even if she wanted to chase that thought, it remained in the back of her head.

After Chloe finished her breakfast, she pondered what to do next. Leave without saying a word? That would be rude. Seeing him and pretending nothing happened? Or that she meant nothing of what she had said last night? Would that really be useful? She had seen an hurt Lex last night and couldn't get it out of her mind. Pretending she didn't meant what she said or that she didn't remember wouldn't do any good. But if he was playing her, then on the other side, she was giving him better cards to play her and probably by extension Lana. Because, of course, if he was playing her, it probably would have something to do with Lana or Clark. Maybe even both. It always did. She sighed at the thought. Everything was always about Lana. Or Clark for that sake.

Chloe finally decided to leave the room and proceeded downstairs. She reached the study doors and opened them, carefully. She put on her best smile, *trying* to hide her embarrassment and tried to avoid the 'awkwardness' of the situation, as she finally walked in.

"Good morning." she said, her voice sounding more soft and shy than she had planned to.

Lex winced at the sound of Chloe's voice but he covered it quickly. "Good morning," he said quietly. "I hope you're feeling well this morning. Of course, if you're feeling anything like me, you'd like to crawn into a dark hole somewhere and wait to die. So I applaud you for leaving your room. "Is there anything I can get you?"

Chloe smiled and chuckled. "I'm ok. Thanks for the food. Oh and the wine. I knew you'd try to kill me somehow." Obviously, she was joking. She was surprised that this hadn't turn into too much awkwardness. At least, for now. "Never thought I'd see Lex Luthor on a hangover. You know, for a reporter, it is kind of priceless."

Throwing Chloe a mock stern look, he retorted in response to her teasing, "Yes, I think my hangover will have to stay a secret between the two of us. If you leak it, I'm afraid I'm going to have to kidnap your dog and do terrible things to it like...pretend to throw a ball just to confuse it!" He paused and then grimaced ostentatiously. "Oh, damn...you don't have a dog. I guess I'll just have to suck it up then!"

Then he sighed. "I suppose we get you home, though. I'm sure...everyone is worried about you, and they would only become more so if they realized where you spent the night."

It was odd, that he felt slightly more comfortable with Chloe this morning. No doubt it was due to the influence of Jack Daniels (his precursor to wine) the night before. Jack always did have a way of smoothing things over socially.

******

Clark woke up on the couch. He stretched and then got to his feet as the sunlight poured in through the windows. Clark quickly remembered that Lana had come home with him the night before and that he had let her sleep in his room. Clark figured he'd make some breakfast, but first he wanted to check on Lana. Clark made his way up the stairs and eventually arrived at his room's door. "Lana?" said Clark through the closed door. He rapped gently at the door when he didn't hear a response. "Lana?" The silence seemed to pique Clark's curiosity as he turned the door knob and peered into the room. "Lana?" Clark looked around frantically, but it was obvious... Lana was gone.

Clark immediately ran to the phone and dialed Chloe's home number. She hadn't answered her cell all night. Clark had to assume that the battery had run dead or something. "Come on, Chloe... pick up. Pick up!" Clark took a deep breath as he held the receiver to his ear, waiting for Chloe to answer the phone. Still, he wasn't looking forward to telling his friend that he'd lost Lana.

******

Chloe felt in her pocket of her coat, something vibrating. She walked over it and looked at the screen. *Clark* She sighed and ignored it. She wasn't going to pick it up now. She didn't even know what she'd tell him yet.

"They don't have to know." Chloe said, forcing a smile. They wouldn't understand. She could barely understand it herself.

Lex was about to continue in his teasing vein with the maid came in and made an announcement.

"Mr Luthor, it appears that your wife… is here."

Like a deer caught in headlights, he froze, for a moment without a single clue as to how to handle the situation. He had expected her to come for her things, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon... and he really didn't know if he could afford to have Chloe hear Lana talk to him - not if Lana was here to talk about the things he'd said night before.

Chloe also froze on place and looked at Lex, not sure what to say.

******

//_Earlier that morning_//

Lana hadn't been able to sleep much last night, after Clark had found her in the cemetery and convinced her to spend the night at the farm. She had been thinking about what had happen to her. And how she could change all this. Prove Clark how much he meant to her. And there was one thing that popped into her mind. The bottle of water. She remembered that she started to feel a little different in the car. And that water was one option that could have caused it. But where was it now?

After waking up before dawn, making sure Clark wouldn't be awaken, she sneaked out of the room and the house, avoiding the living room where Clark was sleeping, and found a way back to her car. Her bottle wasn't there. So there was only one other option. The Mansion. She sighed. She wasn't going there unprepared. Lana opened a little box that someone had given her the day before, before Clark showed up at the cemetery, and took something from it. Soon, she put it in her bag and started to drive.

Lana parked further from the Mansion, so she wouldn't get 'announced'. It would be better for everyone if *he* wasn't seeing her. For both of their sakes. She sneaked in (she had learn the tricks of how to get past the cameras) and went to the study. At this hour, she was almost surprised that Lex wasn't there. She looked all around and couldn't find what she was looking for. Maybe it was in the safe, but sadly she didn't know the code. After a moment, she decided to go upstairs, in the bathroom, where the 'magic' almost happened. She looked everywhere and didn't find the bottle. Maybe the master room? She walked in, finding that the bed had already been made. She started to look in her stuff, then in his and was upset to not find it.

Frustrated, Lana started to make more noise than she should have. Enough so that a maid saw her and walked down to see Lex.

******

Clearing his throat, Lex rose slowly to his feet. "Chloe...uh...I think you should stay here. This thing...Lana being here...it's not...It's probably going to be an uncomfortable scene, and I don't want to put you in the middle of anything. I'll be back shortly." Even as he walked briskly to the door, Lex didn't know for sure why he was hurrying to see Lana. Was it because he missed her? Was it to throw more threats in her face? To see if she was shattered yet? To get the scene over with? He didn't know.

"Of course." Chloe said, the first words coming out of her mouth. But did she really want to stay there and wait? As Lex left, Chloe remained there, looking at her cell phone, then at the door. Pondering to call Clark or not. Had he found her after all? What if... Chloe felt like being a terrible friend at this moment. She shouldn't have been here, but at her friend's side.

Taking the steps two at a time, Lex walked silently to the door to the Master Suite and was surprised to see Lana going through his things. What was she looking for, he wondered. Leaning on the doorpost, he tried to project an air of nonchalance as he drawled softly, "Lana. I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Did you miss me already?"

Lana was throwing basically everything on the floor, looking for the damn bottle. And then she heard *his* voice. She turned around, not really troubled by his presence. Not like yesterday. "You wish Lex." The more she thought about it, the more she wondered how she could have run into his arms. He wasn't Clark. He would never be.

"Where is it Lex?" Lana looked everywhere but couldn't find it. She sighed. She wanted to leave the room, but he was on the way. Lana walked into the little bathroom annexed to the room and opened the door that was there. It wasn't like she was trying to run away. She just was looking for another room to go in. In fact, Lex's presence could be helpful. She turned around. "Where is the bottle? What did you do with it?"

Lex didn't move from his indolent stance in the doorway as he watched Lana moved around the room. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, playing dumb. "What bottle? You know the maids have already been through here to clean. Perhaps they took it into the kitchen to wash or threw it out. Why does it matter?"

He stuck his hands in his pockets and watched her closely, looking for any signs that she'd cracked. He should take pity on her, he supposed. For a moment, he saw her as he'd always seen her before - a fragile creature in need of protection, deserving to be cherished. But then he thought of the way her words were dripping off her tongue like acid. No longer was she the apologetic weeping woman from last night. This morning she was all sharp edges and hazard signs - if he touched her, he thought he might cut himself. The untouchable, unreachable, Ice Queen. Actually, the Ice Bitch was more like it - when crossed or disappointed, nobody knew how to be a bitch better than Lana, for all that she pretended to be saccharine sweet.

His vision cleared and he recognized that he had begun to see her, too, for what she really was - and what that was was possibly much closer to the image he was projecting for Clark and Chloe than he had ever really realized.

With a small shake of his head, he scowled. No, there was no cause for regret. He had warned her. He'd told her exactly what would happen, and she'd left him anyway. So he supposed she was only getting what she deserved. Who better to bring down the Ice Queen than a demon from hell? She was ice, but he knew he was fire - and oh, so much better at this little game they were about to play than she. She didn't stand a chance.

Lana glanced at Lex. She didn't believe him a second. Lex was smarter than this. He may have not 'pretended' to believe her last day when she told him about the fact she hadn't been herself, but he listened. Oh he did. And he probably didn't take any chances. Maybe he even knew what had happen. Mostly if he was the one causing it. "You can cut the crap from your speech, ok? I know you have it. In fact..." As she spoke, Lana went down the stairs, not afraid that she'd loose sight of him. Lex would follow her. he was too damn curious not to.

******

Chloe took her coat and after a moment of hesitation, opened the door of the study, thinking maybe to leave. But as she opened, she heard Lana talking. It was getting louder. Crap! Chloe knew there was a door on the other side of the room, so not long after, she walked over there and opened it, to go on the other side.

******

Lana finally made her way into the study. As she waited for Lex to come down, she made her way to the bookshelf and started to push the books, in search of any hidden vault. Because she knew he had those. "Where is it Lex?"

She turned over and looked pissed. "You know, the thing is, if you did take it to analyze it, that could be helpful for me, because if I'm right, this will prove to you and to everyone that I wasn't myself." The more she looked at Lex, the more she felt hatred. Maybe she had been under a spell all this time. Because now she had trouble finding reasons why she would have fallen for this monster. "But right now, I'd really like to get it back so I can do it myself..."

******

Chloe thought of leaving, but began ears dropping. She had to admit she didn't felt reassured to leave. Whoever was the one lying between those two, she couldn't take any chance to leave them completely alone. And staying there would maybe help her find more about last day.

She was wondering what Lana was looking for. And how it would help her. Of course, that is something Chloe would have to ask Lex, if she couldn't find it... whatever it was.

Right now, she concentrated on the conversation, a little worried about Lana. She didn't seem herself, although, thinking about last night conversation with Lex made her wonder: Who is Lana Lang?

******

Lex looked furtively around but didn't see Chloe anywhere. No doubt she'd decided to make good her escape while he was distracted and before she could be caught by Lana. Or she was hiding somewhere nearby to avoid being part of what was turning into a spectacular scene.

"Calm down, Lana," he said soothingly. "You know what the doctors said. It's not good for you to become so overwrought." It was true that they'd told her to take it easy after her "miscarriage". "I don't have anything, certainly not some bottle you're searching for for whatever unknown reason." It was true. He'd had it sent off the night before, and it was no longer in his possession, so Lana could tear apart the room all she liked but she wouldn't find it.

You're lying!" Lana was getting irritated by him. "Open the vault". She commanded. If it wasn't there, then it meant it was gone. In a lab probably. Which meant he knew what was in. That bastard knew, she could feel it. She was thinking of getting the thing she had been hiding in her bag. Maybe with this, he would understand. There was no one actually around to stop her anyway.

"I don't care about the doctors... Now open this damn vault."

"And what part of last night was you not acting like yourself? The part where you asked me to take you on top of my desk, or the part where you begged for it on the floor? Or maybe in the bathtub? Or how about the scene in the bedroom? Was that you acting like yourself?" He walked up behind her and waited for her to respond, inwardly reveling at how easy it was to play her.

Lana was outraged by Lex's words. "I was myself when I told you it was over. Before that, let me tell you it's rather something I'm trying to forget about." She paused and looked at him, with anger. "We haven't had sex in months Lex. You think it was coincidence?" Shse paused and sighed. "I've stopped wanting you a long while ago... And now, thinking I ever touched you..." Lana expressed almost disgust at the thought. Truth to be told, this didn't actually disgust her, but she had been rationalizing her thoughts and everything about Lex made her feel sick now.

Before Lex could reply anything, Lana pulled a gun from her purse and pointed it at him. "Now, open the god damn vault!"


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry for the delay (though some authors have worst delays right? lol) FF wasn't letting me get on my account. Well here is the new chapter. I think Lana haters will love it!

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Chapter 10: Three to Tango

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Chloe's eyes widened. A gun. Lana had a gun. No, she was going too far. Chloe had to think. And quick. She couldn't stay there and do nothing. Maybe she'd listen to her. They were *friends* after all.

******

Lex sucked in a sharp breath when he saw her pull out a gun. He had to give credit where it was due; she'd definitely surprised him. Of course, he'd had plans such as this, but they wouldn't come to fruition for a while at least. Looking hard into her face, he wondered if it was time to escalate matters...but no. She was angry. Not desperate. Still, if she was going to pull a gun on him now, maybe his plans in the future bore a second look. He didn't want to end up dead, after all.

And now he had an added problem, because if Chloe was around, he definitely didn't want her charging head-first into the situation. That would only likely get the both of them killed.

"Lana, you don't want to do that," he said with much more confidence than he felt since she did, in fact, look like she was at least a little tempted to do it. Pitching his voice a little louder in the hopes that Chloe would hear him, if she was somewhere around, he said, "Put down the gun. If a member of my staff walks in here, someone could get killed. I know you don't really want to hurt anyone. If a member of my security team comes in here, sweetheart, they're going to do what they have to in order to remove the threat, and you know that I would never want that to happen." True. Death was too quick of a punishment for her.

"You want me to open my safe? All right, I will, if it'll prove to you that I don't have what you're looking for." He spoke slowly and very calmly, not letting any emotion creep into his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was add to the excitement of the situation. She still hadn't put down the gun, so he said in a voice one might use to calm an overexcited dog, "I'm going to walk right over there, okay? Just so I can open the safe. I'll move slowly; just don't shoot."

He did as he'd said, walking slowly over to the safe, where he opened the front to show her the recesses. There was, of course, no bottle.

"Do you believe me now?" he asked calmly. Then he took a step toward her, carefully gauging her mood.

Still in that same calm tone, he said, "I know you've been through a lot lately, but it's going to be okay. Just give me the gun, sweetheart." He took another step toward her.

Her words stung, and his first reaction was to want to lash out at her, but he tried to quell the urge and concentrate on other matters. Though his life was in danger, he was curious to know how far he could push her and how far she would go. She'd done more than he could have ever dreamed in terms of showing her instability, but he wondered if he could just as easily push her in the other direction. He'd proved that she could be driven to the urge to kill him...could he prove that he could drive her to want him, as well?

Lana looked at Lex, the gun in her hand, slowly following his movements. If he was going to try anything, she'd shoot. She swore she would. Soon, seeing the vault open and nothing looking like a bottle in it, she still didn't put the gun down, still annoyed. "Don't come near. Stop." Lana moved a little her arm as she spoke. "I know it was here... So if it's not here now, then you must have taken it somewhere to get analyzed..." Maybe she was wrong, but at the moment, she had no options and Chloe hadn't give much news since last night, so the bottle seemed the only option for the moment.

As Lex moved, he said, "You don't want to kill me, Lana. You may not love me, but you don't want to kill me. And you can't say that you never wanted me." Maybe now wasn't the best time to point out that he had gotten her pregnant. "You can't say that there's nothing between us."

"Don't come closer or I'll shoot… I swear!" She was getting nervous, but tried to concentrate. "Oh no.. I did.. once.. When I was feeling lost, when you took this at your advantage... And don't you dare say there is something between us!!!" She had vitrous eyes, with hatred, confused look. She hated him with a passion.

Locking his eyes with hers, Lex took another step forward. "I didn't have anything to do with what happened to you yesterday, Lana. I know you want to blame me, but do you know what I think? I think you're mad at me because you're not entirely certain that you weren't more yourself last night than you want to think. You want to believe that you'd never touch me, but you and I both know differently. You may hate me, but there doesn't have to be love in order for their to be passion." And their relationship, though it had had its ups and downs, had been passionate, until recently.

"You liked being married to me, Lana. You liked the power. The position. The money. You liked being able to drop your name and get anything you wanted. And whether or not you want to admit it now, there was a time when you liked being with me because you know that I look at you and see what you are, not what I want you to be. You really want to give that up?' He was so close to her now he could feel the pressure of the gun against his chest. Tilting his head down until his face was mere inches from hers, he said softly, "Pull the trigger, sweetheart."

He really, really hoped he was reading her correctly or this was just going to end badly for him.

How many times had he reached for her, and she'd pulled away? How many times had he opened himself to her,only to be rejected? Just once, he wanted the chance to return the favor

Lana listened to him, which led her to barely notice Lex walking closer to her. She knew, yet she couldn't move. "I liked being married to you? Lex, your father forced me into this marriage. I was about to leave you for Clark that day. The very day we got married. But your father apparently wanted the best for his son..."

Soon, Lex was now closed to Lana. Too close. her hand was shaking. She wanted to pull the trigger. She hated him for talking to her like that. "Don't call me sweetheart!"

Pull the tigger. Pull it! Her mind was crying out. But she couldn't. Not in those conditions. Her eyes were still vitrous. "I love Clark. And this time you're not gonna get between us..."

Lana made one step behind and 'charged' the gun.

"Lana! Don't."

Lana's attention was taken on someone else than Lex. Behind him, in the back, there was Chloe. "Chl... Chloe?" She still had the gun pointed at Lex, but wasn't sure now what to do. "Chloe... This is for Clark. And for me. And for you and everyone else." She looked back at Lex. "He made so much people suffer."

Chloe made one step ahead. "Lana... Please don't. It's not up to you to decide who goes and who doesn't."

Lana sighed, pondering to let the gun down or not. Then she looked at the couch and back at Chloe. Something she just realized. Something her mind had captured earlier, but hadn't processed. But seeing Chloe without a coat, while there was one on the couch, she frowned. "Chloe... How long have you been here?"

******

Lex stood in shocked silence at Lana's admission. She couldn't be telling the truth! No...no, she had loved him once. She had! From the look on her face, though, he could tell she wasn't lying. It was probably good that Chloe took that moment to intervene, because otherwise Lex might have done something he regretted. And to think, for a second, he'd almost thought about backing off of his plan, having pity on the woman he once thought he had loved.

Now, however, he was wondering if what he'd planned was punishment enough. How dare she do this! It was one thing for her to tell him that she didn't love him now. He knew that. But how dare she stand right in front of him and pretend like he had never met anything to her!

When Chloe's voice broke into the scene, Lex took a step back from Lana, his shaking hands clutched into fists. Shoving them into his pockets, he unconsciously shifted to stand between Lana and Chloe.

"Lana, calm down. Chloe came over today to see you because she was worried about you. Everything's fine. You need to put down the gun, swe - Lana. You don't want to do this."

"It's true Lana. We've been wondering about you.."

We?" Lana still had the gun in her hands and made few steps on the side. "Who are we, Chloe? You and Lex? Since when are you a 'we'?"

Chloe was trying to think fast, avoiding some terms, which apparently irritated her easily. "I meant… me and Clark." She didn't meant to pretend Lex didn't care by saying that, but if there was one person that could have an effect on Lana, it had to be Clark.

Lana looked at Chloe, frowning. "I was here by 7 this morning, in the study. Your coat was there. Lex wasn't even up. Now you both tell me that you just arrived?" There had to be an explication. But, it would explain why she hadn't heard of Chloe. Why Clark couldn't get a hold of her either.

Lana made a step back, almost horrified. "This can't be..." Her eyes met Chloe's. "How can you team up with this heartless monster? You know better than anyone what he is capable of..."

"He's not like that!" Chloe said, as her eyes widened, surprised by that she had say.

Lana was really upset. "Wow..." She turned to Lex. "You got her too, huh? I knew you could manipulate people pretty good… I just didn't think Chloe would fall into this trap.."

Chloe didn't even look at Lex, feeling somewhat embarrassed of what she had just said. "Lana.. Please calm down... it's not what you think..." And it was true. She was getting the wrong idea. But Chloe was running out of ideas. Could she tell her about last night? Of course she couldn't.

"I think you need help Lana..."

******

Lex glanced over at Chloe. This was getting way out of hand. If he didn't get this situation under control, it was very likely someone would be hurt. Stepping back, he made sure to stay between Lana and Chloe. Unfortunately, while this was a good time to stay calm, everything that he'd been feeling for the last twenty-four hours bubbled up as he said harshly, "This has gone far enough, Lana!

"You blame me for everything that's gone bad in your life, and I'm sorry," he said a bit sarcastically, "that it was such a burden to be married to me. If my father forced you to marry me, then I assure you that I had no idea. I thought our marriage was real! But at any rate, it really doesn't matter because I don't remember anyone twisting your arm to accept my proposal to begin with! I don't remember forcing you to stay here with me! That was your choice, and you can ignore it or gloss over it or blame me for it as much as you want, but that doesn't change anything. It was your choice!

"You think I took advantage of you? That's a laugh, Lana, and you know it! That only gets you so far! I "tricked" you into being with me, but the words you spoke were entirely yours. Every time you told me you loved me, every time you told me you always would, every time you told me you were going to be with me forever, it was a damn lie, but it was a lie of your doing and not mine. How long are you going to blame everyone else for everything that goes wrong in your life? I'm the devil because I dared to love you and want to marry you! Clark's a terrible person because he didn't open up to you in every way that you wanted him to! Did you ever stop to wonder if that didn't have as much to do with you as it did with him? You're so quick to judge him for keeping secrets, but did you ever wonder if there wasn't a reason why he did so? Because I think it's clear that you're so damn open and accepting and loving. I'm absolutely shocked that he thought there was ever going to be a problem being with you!

"You blame me for twisting your arm into getting into this relationship, but you're conveniently forgetting that you turned to me when the man who loved you so incredibly much," he said sarcastically, "didn't care enough about you to be open and honest with you. I was your friend, and you were the one who came to me when he broke your heart for the hundredth time. You were the one who told me it was over, and that you could never love him again. I suppose that only lasted so long as was convenient for you, because you're clearly willing to try again. Do you know the definition of stupidity, Lana? It's doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result each time.

"You want to hate me for everything wrong in your life, Lana, then I certainly can't stop you. But it's crap, and you know it. I didn't force you to date me! I didn't force you to tell me you loved me! I didn't force you to stay the night! I never once - never once forced your hand, and if you ever started to feel doubts, then you sure as hell should have said something! What the hell were you waiting for?

"No, Princess, the truth of the matter is that you were perfectly happy to be here with me, letting me take care of all your problems, until you thought there was even the chance that you might have a shot to trade up with Clark, and then you were more than happy to run back to him with the desperate hope that you could make your own bad decisions go away. Because you're never going to be happy with what you have, and you're always going to be looking at what could have been. As much as you hate me now, after four months with Clark, you're going to wonder what might have been if you stayed behind. Because you're fickle, and you've never found anything to believe in or stand by for more than a few months at a time! And you don't even care, as long as you find someone to take care of all your problems for you!

"Go ahead, Lana. Blame me for all of your problems. Do what you always do and put all the blame on everyone else. But the truth is that you chose the situation you're in now, and you did it with your eyes wide open. You want to kill me? You want to shoot me? Go ahead. I can't stop you. Hell, you might even get away with it, if you can get away from here before my security staff finds out what you've done. But you know that Clark can forgive you for a lot of things; he's always been willing to take on that despair you wear around yourself like a shroud. And maybe you can even convince him to love you again. But if you honestly think Clark could ever forgive you for murdering me, you're deluding yourself. And if you ever think to stand a chance with him again, you'll leave this between yourself and me and let Chloe go. She's innocent in all this, but for worrying about you.

"And what did I ever do to you, Lana, that was so damn terrible? I loved you. I married you. I tried to give you everything you've ever wanted. So what did I do wrong? Apparently, my only crime is that I'm not Clark. Well, I didn't stop you last night from going to him, and you're the one with all the cards here today. I'm not the one with the gun. I'm not the one making threats."

Breathing heavily, he bit out through clenched teeth, "Chloe. There's a door behind you. Go out through it now and get as far away from her as you can. This is between me and my wife, and I'm not going to let Lana hurt you."

He was still glaring at Lana as he said, "You think I'm lying, and there's not a damn thing I could say to make you believe me, but Chloe came here out of concern for you. I didn't force her to come here. Apparently, you credit me with having a lot more power than I have. She came because she was worried about you, about what would happen to you now. Do you honestly believe there's even a chance she would have come here for me?" he scoffed. "And now you're threatening her life? The only person who's ever stood by you without question or equivocation?

"Put down the gun, Lana, and then get the hell out of my house and don't ever come back. I don't ever want to see your face here again, do you understand? If you don't want to do it for me or for the best friend you've ever had - the only people in the world who have ever actually been loyal to you - then do it for the man you supposedly love. Because Clark is never going to love you - never - if you hurt Chloe."

He was almost shaking, he was so livid. He wanted her gone. He wanted them both gone. He hated Lana for the words she'd spoken, and he hated more than Chloe had heard them and was present to witness his heartbreak and shame. "Get the hell out of my house, Lana. Because if you pull that trigger and you hurt Chloe - or if you shoot me and don't manage to kill me - then so help me, I'll kill you myself."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I appreciate that a lot of people are interested in this story, but i would also appreciate to get some feedbacks. Oterwise, how do I know if what I'm doing is good? ;)

* * *

Chapter 11: Running Away

* * *

As Lex spoke, Lana's hand was trembling a little, still holding the gun at him, her eyes slightly vitreous, both anger and pain. "Shut up!" She yelled at some point. Hearing him as... She hated to hear him. Had she been happy with Lex? For the first months, maybe. Maybe she had been. But deep down, she had never stopped loving Clark.

Lana looked at Chloe. She never had intended to get her involved in this. And never would she hurt her.

Her attention was back on Lex, trying not to show that she had lost part of the control. "You are right... You were never Clark..."

_Breathing heavily, Lex bit out through clenched teeth, "Chloe. There's a door behind you. Go out through it now and get as far away from her as you can. This is between me and my wife, and I'm not going to let Lana hurt you."  
_  
Chloe listened to Lex, but didn't move. She couldn't let Lex alone with Lana. "I'm not leaving you alone."

******

"Don't talk to her. You don't get to do that!"

She looked at Chloe, still the gun on Lex. "I'm not threatening her life. I wouldn't hurt her." She said as her eyes got back on Lex. "I just want... I want.." She had trouble speaking.

Chloe listened to Lex and, in the midst of all, she was touched that Lex was being so overprotective of her. "Lana, please... put the gun down..." She hoped that if Lex's words wouldn't work, at least hers would. "You know it's not the solution. You know Clark wouldn't approve. Please Lana..."

While, Lana knew deep down that Chloe was right, she didn't like how Lex was protecting Chloe. It wasn't as if she had threatened to kill her. She believed Chloe had come here for her. She did. But she had a hard time buying that she had been there only since this morning. They were both lying. And it made her sick to think Chloe could do such thing.

Finally, Lana lowered the gun. "You can both go to hell... And Lex I really hope you burn... This isn't over..." She turned around, walking over the door and gave a last look at Chloe. "That goes for you too Chloe..."

She then walked out of the study and soon out of the Mansion, the gun still in her hand.

******

Chloe took a deep breath. She hadn't expected Lana to be so mad at him. And surely not at her.

Chloe remained silent for a minute or two, allowing Lex to process what had happened. She wanted to think that Lana wasn't herself, but she was starting to think that maybe it was really who she was.

"I'm sorry Lex..." She was. As far as she was concerned, Lex didn't earn all this bitter and venom Lana had thrown him. "I... erhm.. I need to make a call.."

Chloe turned around and called Clark. "Clark?" Once she reached him, before he could start to ask her many questions of 'where the hell she had been', she continued. "Lana is unstable... She just left the Mansion... I think you're the only one who can talk to her at this point." She paused and looked at Lex. "She is armed… Be careful..."

Once her conversation with Clark was over, Chloe hung up. Back to pondering what to do. Could she leave the Mansion? Lex wasn,t the type of man to accept sympathy. Not after something like that. She was sure of it. But there was no way she wanted him to be alone. Or maybe it was a good idea. She didn't know.

Part of her knew he needed space. But part of her knew that Lex being a Luthor, he probably wouldn't let things stay that way with Lana. And a part wanted to stay because... Well because she cared for him. He had gone trough a lot and she meant what she had said last night. She didn't want to give up on him. Now more than ever.

Chloe slowly, but surely, walked over Lex, as she put one hand on his shoulder. "If you need someone... I'm here..." She looked into his dark blue eyes as she faced him. "It was unfair of her..." She didn't know what else to add right now. He would probably request to be alone and she would have to leave. She understood why he would ask such thing, but she had to let him know that she wasn't letting him down, even in this crisis. He needed someone more than ever to be there for him. Something it seemed he had lacked all his life.

Hopefully, this would change.

******

At the window, Lana had witnessed everything. Something had happen. Something had changed. Chloe had always been a genuinely nice woman but Lana was disappointed that she had to be like that with Lex too. Maybe she was just trying to get some affection from a man. She had been second choice all her life behind Lana when it came to Clark's affection, after all. Now maybe that Lex was free, she was trying to get him. The way Lex had got Lana after Clark had dumped her. Of course, recently, it had seemed as if Clark trusted more Chloe than Lana. She was his sidekick. Seemed like he couldn't do anything without her.

But this would change now...

******

Lex stood in silence, staring sightlessly at the floor as Lana left. Her words haunted him. Had she been telling the truth? Had his father really forced her to marry him? And if so, how and why?

Everything between the two of them had been a lie. Every moment, every kiss. It had all been a lie. How could he have ever believed it was real?

When the sound of the front door slamming behind his wife faded away, Lex's thoughts turned to Chloe. He couldn't figure her out. Still lost in thought, he heard her call Clark, but he didn't care. His mind was on other matters. She had had the chance to leave and had stayed behind, even though by staying behind she had probably damaged her friendship with Lana. Why would she do something like that?

Turning his head to the side, he stared at the hand on his shoulder. Following the line of her arm with his gaze, he finally raised it to her face. "You should go," he said abrupty, his voice emotionless, for the moment not processing her words. Pulling his eyes away from her face, he grimaced as Lana's spiteful words came to mind again. He couldn't believe that she'd said them, and he really couldn't believe that Chloe had been present to hear them. "This...there's no reason why you should be in the middle of this. Lana's angry, and there's no telling what she'll do next. She may very well take her hatred of me out on you. I should never have asked you to stay last night."

Brushing past her, he walked over to the desk and reached for the phone. "I'll call one of my drivers to take you home."

******

Chloe watched Lex walked back to his desk. "Lex..." Chloe wasn't going to insist on staying. Why would she do that anyway? Still, she didn't like leaving him alone. If this moment hadn't been even more awkward than it already was and if her relation with Lex had been better, she would have comfort him even more. She wouldn't have been afraid to do so at least.

"Lana's being taken care of..."

After taking a deep breathe, She looked back into his eyes. "Lex, I'm already in it.. Even before this..." She paused as he announced her he was going to call someone to take her home. The only thing she'd be able to do was to call Clark and work on this case. There was nothing else she could do anyway. "She is..." Chloe wanted to say 'best friend', but it didn't sounded right. Chloe didn't know anymore who was Lana. "She is a friend and there is no way I am going to stand on the sideline and wait."

She paused and looked at Lex, determined. "Look... I know you are hurt right now... But... Perhaps we should work on this together..."

"I know that when I'll leave, that's what I'll do and I know that even if you want to lie to me about it, you will work on it too. Now, I don't know what are going to be your intentions, but... just let me help you..." Chloe wasn't going to insist, but she wanted at least to let him know she was willing to work with him. Of course, there was Clark in the equation, but it wasn't like he hadn't been working with Lex on stories when they had no choice. It wasn't any different now, except that it wasn't Clark, but Chloe. And she didn't really felt *forced* to.

******

**Lana's being taken care of...** If only Chloe knew. He didn't know why he'd revealed more to her in the past twenty-four hours than he'd ever intended to, although he couldn't complain too much about the results. Chloe clearly had begun to, if not trust him, then at least believe that the picture he was painting might actually be true.

For a minute, he was tempted to continue telling her the truth. He was tempted to admit that, after those words Lana had spoken, Lex almost wished that she'd pulled the trigger. If she'd been successful in killing him, then she would likely be put away for a very long time and would never find the happiness she was seeking so desperately with Clark - but she would be free. She would be, in a relative sense, safe, from his wrath and his revenge. And even if she'd missed, he had wanted so very badly to kill her just then, to choke the life out of her with his bare hands so that he would never have to hear such things again. And even if doing so would have sent him away for the rest of his life, it would have been fine because he would have at least had peace - no longer having to comfort himself with the thought that he'd been hurt by her as much as was humanly possible, only to have her turn around and prove him wrong.

With a ragged breath, Lex pulled his hand back from the phone before Chloe could notice the tell-tale shaking. His jaw was clenched so tight it was giving him a headache. Ignoring his companion for a moment, he turned to look at the nearby crystal decanter of brandy. To hell with the fact that it wasn't even noon; he wanted a drink - anything to wash the bitter taste of disappointment and hatred out of his mouth. Without sparing Chloe a glance, he stalked over and poured himself a double with a hand that shook just enough to slosh some over the sides of the glass.

Throwing it back in one gulp, he poured himself another. And another. The hatred within wasn't going away, it wasn't being dulled by alcohol. If anything, the demons inside him were just waking up. I was about to leave you for Clark that day. He thought of the way she'd looked at their wedding - the happiest day of his life. He remembered how nervous he'd been when he'd stood up in front of that church and waited for her to walk down the aisle - unable even to breathe from the fear that she would change her mind and not show up.

And then she had, looking more beautiful than he'd ever seen her before, and for the first time in his life, he'd thought that he was being given a chance to have what everyone else had and took for granted so damn often. With every step she took, he'd seen the years stretching out before the two of them. The children they would have. The way they would grow old together. It was what he'd always wanted and the one thing he'd thought worth fighting for, but it turned out in the end to be a lie, fragile as glass.

I was about to leave you for Clark that day. That dream had never been his. Never! He wondered why he even bothered to be surprised. She'd looked so beautiful walking down the aisle that day, but she hadn't been there for him. That dream would never be his.

God, he wished she had just pulled that damn trigger, because then, one way or the other, it would be over.

"You don't want to work with me, Chloe," he barked as he slammed the glass in his hand back down with enough force that it cracked. Staring at it, he noted with wry humor that his metaphor was being very aptly demonstrated right in front of him. He squeezed the glass hard in his fist, watching as the crack spread until the shape of the glass buckled and shattered in his hand into a thousand shards, each making tinkling music as it hit the solid surface of the bar. Perfect.

Then, forgetting all about the broken glass, he turned to face Chloe, and if he couldn't quite hide the mix of emotions that he knew were being betrayed on his face - the fury, the loathing, the agony - then for once he was glad. He wanted to impress upon her the truth of his words, commit one last act as a good man and extend her some mercy.

"You don't want to be here," he added, stalking towards her. "Get out. Get as far away from me as you can. You were an idiot to come last night, and you're even more of one to stick around today. Don't you know how much danger you're in with every moment that you're here?"

"Lana was right about me, Chloe. I am a heartless monster, willing to manipulate everyone around me to get what I want. You don't want to be here. You don't want to find out that I'm not the man you believe me to be. Maybe I was, once; I don't know. But I'm not, any longer. You can't save me. You wouldn't even be able to save yourself.

His nearness had made her uncomfortable the night before, and so today he used it to his advantage. He wanted to make her uncomfortable. He wanted to make her run. To back her into a corner so that she knew what it felt like and therefore know why she had to get away. "You think this is over now, between Lana and me?" he asked in a dangerously soft tone as he reached out with the hand that wasn't covered in tiny splinters of glass and slipped it around her waist, exerting pressure on the small of her back until he brought her up tight against his body. Then he slowly walked her backwards towards the wall. He knew he was probably scaring her, and for once, he was glad.

"You think this will all go away if we look deep enough into the mystery? We can find all the answers, and you can save your friend. And, hell, maybe even me along the way. You can fix everything. But you don't know a damn thing, sweet, innocent Chloe Sullivan. We'll never stop playing this game. Never. We'll play this game until the bitter end." He murmured in her ear as he backed her into a corner - quite literally - but he didn't release his hold on her just yet. He could see it in her eyes; she wasn't quite convinced. So he threw down the last card he could play that he had realized the night before would upset her - though he didn't entirely know why. He painted her a picture he knew she wouldn't want and used vulgarity as a way to drive the point home. "We'll keep at this - fighting and maybe even fucking each other's brains out - until it kills us both.

"This story doesn't end well, Chloe. Not for her. Not for me. And not for anyone who gets in the middle." His eyes were flashing and he was breathing heavily, but he slowly dragged his arm out from behind her back and dropped it to his side. "You want to save someone, Sweet Chloe? Take my advice. Save yourself." With those last two words, he stepped back, finally allowing her room to escape.

If she had a brain in her head, she'd run.


	12. Chapter 12a

Chapter 12a: The secret

* * *

Chloe sucked the air around her as Lex's glass broke. She really was starting to get worried about him. And for herself too. An angered Lex wasn't the type of man she ever liked to deal with. He could be very scary. _Like a monster_. And she didn't have the pretension to be able to calm him or find he right words. It wasn't as if they were friends after all...

"Lex..." Chloe didn't even have time to add anything. She wasn't even sure she would have found the right words. Not longer after she had say his name, Chloe's eyes slowly widened as Lex got closer, still looking furious. _Scary_. And at the same time, she could feel his pain hidden behind all this anger. It was sad to see that he had come to think of him the way he had swore he would never be. _A monster_.

She wanted to argue. Tell him to fight for himself. To forget about Lana. Hell, it irritated her even more to think that he had put all his hopes in this woman. In someone that was meant to ditch him at some point. Because it never had been Lex and Lana. It always had been Clark and Lana. And she felt sorry that Lex had been fooled but she also thought that of all the things he had done, dating Lana was probably one of the most stupid thing. For the most clever man she had ever met, that had been foolish. But, what had been done, had been done.

_"You think this is over now, between Lana and me?"_

Chloe's heartbeat started to increase as the closure did too. His touch did something to her that she yet had been able to find out the reason of it. His voice was cold, daring, menacing.

"Lex.. Stop.." She reopened her eyes not long after she had closed them at the sound of Lex's whisper in her ear, processing everything he had threw her within the last few minutes. Why was he trying to scare her? Why was he doing everything in his power to push her away? Just for that, she wanted to stay and upset him even more. But, she couldn't force him to accept her help. Maybe she should have given him some space. Maybe she should actually. But hearing him giving threats - and god knows he wasn't known to just pretend to give threats, but actually execute them - Chloe wasn't much convinced of leaving him and his mind alone, processing again and again this morning and all the options he could take to make Lana suffer.

After Lex's momentary breakdown of anger, Chloe looked away of Lex and rubbed her arm with her hand, not sure what to think of all this. He had try to push her away, yet she didn't want to abandon him. More than ever, she wanted to prove him wrong. She just didn't know how yet.

"You are right Lex. I'm not a savior. Maybe I take so much time helping people that I sometimes forget about myself. But while this may be an obstacle to my short term pursue of happiness, in the end, when I see the faces of those I helped. Their own happiness... Their very own one that they thought for a moment that they could never have again and now they do, partly because of me... Well, that gives me hope. It brings me closer to my own goals." Chloe paused and walked back closer to Lex, facing him in the eyes.

"I believe in people and I know you used to do too. Now, you may deny it right now and I can understand that after you've been betrayed so many times in your life, by people you cared about a lot, maybe you think it's easier to slip into vengeance, but somewhere in you, the Lex **I** used to know is still there." And as she was talking, Chloe's eyes seemed to be searching behind those blue eyes, where was the guy she had met years ago.

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger Lex... You should know this better than anyone. But this doesn't mean you have to become a heartless monster... It should be making you a better man... no the other way around..." Chloe finally looked away and soon turned her head and soon the rest of her body, facing the doors.

"You'll know how to reach me if you change your mind." Before she could get to the doors, Chloe looked back at Lex. "You have to know that if you intend to hurt Lana, I'll be there to stop you... But… I'll also be there for you if you ever need to..."  
**  
****

Lex scowled when Chloe reiterated, once again, her faith in him. What did he have to do to convince her that he wasn't a man to be trusted but one to be feared? Irritated with her stubbornness, he almost chuckled when she commented that she wouldn't help him bring Lana down. How little she knew that she already had begun to do so.

She was just about to leave when he realized that he had the opportunity to make one other piece of the puzzle fit into place. "Wait," he said suddenly, stopping her in her tracks. When she looked at him again, he offered her a sardonic smile. "You might as well take some of Lana's things with you when you go. I don't exactly relish the idea of her showing up at the Mansion with a gun again."

Walking briskly toward her, he grabbed her hand and gave it a slight tug to encourage her to follow him as he made his way towards the stairs to the Master Suite. When he was confident she was following, he dropped her hand and concentrated at the task at hand, ignoring the guilt tugging at the back of his mind that he was using the woman behind him - the woman who seemed to profess she thought he was capable of being better than that. Shows how much she knows, he thought wryly and refused to give in to the urge to stop this game before it went too far.

He had told Chloe not to trust him. If she didn't listen, he wasn't to blame. She was only going to get what he'd warned her was coming. And he was pointedly going to ignore any thoughts that there was even a little chance that she was actually the one who was right about him. After all, she was a friend of both Clark's and Lana's, and he'd learned from both of them that, regardless of what they said about trusting him, the truth was that their trust only went so far. If he dared to trust her, it would only be a matter of time before Chloe followed suit and turned on him as soon as it suited her purposes. No, his way was far better. Certainly, he'd be alone, but he'd no longer have to fool himself into thinking he'd ever been otherwise.

Leading the way into the bedroom, Lex walked over to the closet and pulled out Lana's set of matched luggage. "You don't have to take everything, of course," he said, sounding bored. "But the more you take now, the less I'll be tempted to destroy later." He offered her a little smile at that, though he wasn't sure he was joking.

"I'll start to pack some of the clothes from the closet." He pointed to a piece of furniture with gouge marks in it from his antics the night before, "That armoire was hers, so you can take anything that's inside." He paused. "It will probably be locked, but I suppose Lana kept a key around here someplace." Actually, he knew she did, since he'd accessed that armoire the day before in order to leave something incriminating inside - a file. But he trusted Chloe would be resourceful enough to find the key hidden in Lana's usual place. He pointed to another dresser. "That dresser is mine, so unless you've always been curious about whether I'm a boxers or briefs kind of man, you should steer clear. Also, the books by the bed are Lana's, and you should feel free to take any photographs you see lying around...if you can find any she would want to have." Since most if not all of them were photos of Lana and Lex back in their "happier" days - or at least the days when she'd been a better actress at pretending she'd cared about him - he doubted she'd want any. That was fine; any that Chloe left behind would almost undoubtedly be burned. He couldn't even stand to look at the damn things.

Swallowing back the swell of rage and hatred, Lex turned from Chloe so she couldn't see his face. "I suppose we should get started," he said curtly, but before he could walk back into the closet, a maid knocked on the door.

******

Chloe didn't have much time to react at Lex when he grabbed her to get upstairs. She hadn't really expected to take Lana's stuff. Not now at least. And it wasn't as if Lana would want to speak to her anytime soon anyway. But he was right on one thing: it was better if Chloe left with those than Lana coming back being even more erratic.

Soon, she found herself in the master room, which felt a little odd at first. She didn't recall ever coming there. The colors of the bed sheets made her think Lana might had decided to take control on the 'style' of the room. She gave a glance at the room, scanning it a first time. On first sight, everything seemed normal.

Her eyes came back on Lex. While he didn't seem to feel better, at least he had decided to not let her leave yet. Of course, it was for Lana's stuff, but still, she hoped that there was a reason beyond that. That maybe he believed somehow what she had said and it was one way to express it. At least, if she was going to leave the Mansion soon, she hoped it would be on good terms. *But why oh why was she insisting on that? She didn't now herself...*

"Sure..." Chloe knew he would be more than tempted to destroy Lana's stuff. Even if her friend hadn't been quite a worthy friend recently, she couldn't let anything get destroyed and having Lana be homeless. She didn't deserve that much.

******

"Mr. Luthor? There's a telephone call for you. He said it was urgent," she said.

Nodding, he walked back to the door. "Excuse me, Chloe. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Sure... I'll start packing her stuff..."

When he stepped out into the hall, he was quietly informed that the call was from the scientist analyzing the water. Perfect. Lex walked briskly down the hall to answer the phone in a private room, though he had to be sure not to take too long. He knew Chloe well enough to know not to leave her to her own devices for too long while in his home. Undoubtedly, given enough time, she'd uncover all his secrets. With any luck, however, his absence this time would give her enough opportunity to uncover just the one.

It was almost too easy.

**

As soon as Lex was downstairs, Chloe closed the door and turned around to face the room again. She had to think quickly. Where could the key of the closet be? What if she had it on her? Chloe walked towards a small box of jewelry of Lana and opened it. *_Of course it was there_* Lana had thrown the key there as if it wasn't important. So what was the point of locking it?

Soon, Chloe unlocked the armoire. In it, she found random stuff. Some clothes, pictures *with Clark and Chloe, back from high school days*, some papers, a file... A file? Chloe looked at the door. She hadn't heard anyone coming. So she opened the file and discovered something she hadn't expect.

It was all about Clark. It seemed Lana had been working on Clark's case for quite a while. There was a mention of what had happen in the barn when Clark had been erratic and try to kill Lex. Chloe knew that he had been on Red K, but here it was mentioning about the piece of metal Lex had put in Clark, that hadn't even touched him in reality. Lana seemed to have also mentioned details like what was Clark doing of his days, what was his relation with Chloe and Lois and Lionel... Was Lana spying on him?! Chloe couldn't believe what she was reading. And there was this one thing at the end on one page...

****Clark's secret = The key??****

The key? What did it meant? Chloe was now worried that Lex may had read this. And that Clark could be in danger. Who knew how Lana would react if Clark rejected her once more. If she knows about his weakness, he could be in danger. She would have to warn him.

After few minutes, Chloe closed the file and put it in her bag. She didn't know if Lex had read it, but she couldn't take the chance to talk to him about it. For Clark's sake.

Still no sign of anyone, Chloe was tempted to go see in Lex's closet. Not that his boxers were really that interesting, but maybe he was hiding something too. She probably would have gone there in her younger days, when she was still a novice, but she was aware now that Lex probably was hiding anything he had to hide in safer places. There was also the fact that there might be a camera in this very room, who knew? If so, she only hoped she'd have time to replace the real file with something else so Lex wouldn't find out what it was about, pretending he didn't now already. And the last argument she had in her mind was that she wasn't going to get his trust by sneaking into his stuff. No, she had to control herself.

Chloe started to pack Lana's stuff, looking carefully for anything else, wondering what more could come. *_Lana... Who are you..._*

******

Lex walked back into the bedroom, pleased with the information he had just gained. There was definite progress being made on the water bottle, as the preliminary analysis had uncovered traces of unusual rock residues. Very interesting, and it was something he was going to have to pursue.

His mind was so focused on other matters that he didn't note the expression on Chloe's face when he first walked into the room, but as he began to return his attention to the matter at hand, he paused. She had the most curious expression on her face. Had she discovered the information he'd left for her to find? And, if so, what did she think of it?

He didn't want to show his hand, so he merely walked over to the closet and began pulling out clothes to throw in a suitcase. After a moment, however, he said lightly, "When we're finished here, I'll have a member of my staff take these bags down to your car for you, so you don't have to carry them."

Hiding his smile, he wondered how long Chloe would be able to keep her findings to herself. He was frankly surprised she wasn't already on the phone, truth be told.

******

"Ok…" While Chloe wanted to focus on Lex, her mind was on the file, which was rather disturbing. It could have been one thing if Lana hadn't seemed so erratic earlier. And there was the pregnancy... Something obviously was wrong with Lana. What if she had a breakdown? Maybe she just needed psychological help. Could there be any other explanations?

After closing one box, Chloe searched for anything else to put in a new box, trying to make as if nothing had change, but something felt awkward. After insisting on staying, she couldn't leave just right now without any good reason. That would raise suspicion. And no one better than Lex could rise suspicions on a minor detail.

"Almost done here..." She looked back at Lex, who wasn't facing her. "Need help?"

After another silent moment, Chloe stopped what she was doing and walked closer to Lex. She didn't walked in front of him, neither did she touched him so he could turn around, but something was on her mind and she had to ask, even if he'd lie, which he would be likely to do.

"Lex... Let me ask you something... What are you going to do when I'll be gone?" She asked, a bit of worrisome in her voice, more than she'd intended to.

"I certainly doubt that you will just sit here and get drunk burning stuff for your own pleasure. You might do that as well and I can understand that part, but tell me you are not going to hurt her..." The minute she had started to give a plea, without realizing it, Chloe had take Lex's hands into hers, looking right into his eyes, still with this slight worried look.

"Just tell me..."


	13. Chapter 12b

Chapter 12b: Guilt

* * *

Lex turned and looked down at Chloe in surprise. Then he laughed. "You think I'm going to track her down and kill her, Bright Eyes? I would think that would be a pretty dangerous thing to do, since she has a gun and doesn't seem to have a fear of using it. Also, she's with Clark, no doubt. Don't tell me she has more faith in his willingness and ability to protect her than you do."

"A gun never stopped you Lex."

She still looked like she was wanting answers, so Lex sighed and rubbed his forehead wearily. Plus, it still hurt from the binge the night before. "You want to know what I'm going to do when you leave? Honestly...I don't know. I'll probably call her doctors to tell her of today's incident; they said they'd need to know about any changes in her condition. And then I...I'll probably talk to my father." He turned his head away from her and looked at the dress that was hanging on the hook in front of him. It was beautiful, dark purple, and he remembered the night she'd worn it for him.

Lionel. Chloe had almost forgot about him. She had been so much focused on finding Lana and making sure she'd be safe that she had forgot one main factor. Elder Luthor. It also made her wonder what Lex had to hide that had intrigued his own father and convinced him to force Lana to marry him. Lionel and Lex had one thing in common. They never did something out of interest.

Lex ran a gentle hand down the silky fabric of the garment, remembering how it had clung to her body - and how it had fallen to the floor later that evening in a forgotten heap as he carried her to bed. In an apparent non-sequiter, he asked, "Do you ever go dancing, Chloe?" The two of them had danced that night, and no matter how many times he'd spun her around, she'd never once had a misstep and crushed his feet. It would figure she would have been as perfect at that as she'd been at everything else, but he'd almost wished - even then - that she would have made one wrong step and shown herself to be as flawed as the rest of the world. He didn't know why she never allowed herself to do such a thing, since he would have no doubt found whatever flaws she would have displayed to be endearing. "She was a wonderful dancer."

Clutching the fabric in his fist, he yanked it harshly off the hanger and threw it on the floor. He'd dispose of it later. Turning to look back at Chloe again, he explained with a nonchalant shrug, "She's not going to want that one back, trust me. I'll probably also take the liberty of disposing of her wedding go..."

"I... Well.. I'm not the best dancer in the world to be honest... But I try.." Chloe took a small step back, a little caught off guard by his sudden moment of anger. Clearly he had a lot on his mind.

Lex's voice trailed off, and he offered Chloe a sad smile and continued his previous thought, "I'll probably ask my father why he forced Lana to marry me. If she'd always planned to leave me, I'd have much rather not had these few months of her trying to pretend to be in a happy relationship." Then he gave her a hard look and reached out with one hand to brush some hair off her cheek. "And what about you, Chloe? Did you know that she'd planned to leave me for Clark that day? Were you aware that she was playing me for a fool this whole time? Of course, I imagine the argument could be made that I was doing it all by myself."

Chloe slightly froze on place when Lex reached out for her face. She felt rather guilty as she heard the question, something she wouldn't have mind lying about two days ago. "I had no idea Lex. I had no idea.. until yesterday.." She paused and looked away for a moment. She shouldn't feel guilty. It's not as if she and Lex were long time friends. It's also not as if she had known all this time. And even if she had, Lana was her friend. It wasn't her place to reveal her secrets.. At least, it used to...

"She told me about your father... she came to me for help..." Chloe obviously couldn't reveal the real threat Lionel had given though. Soon, her eyes met his again, with somewhat some sadness in it. "You know, Lana never told me what was happening between you two... She always claimed to be fine and I guess I never tried to know more..." Learning that Lana was happy while it made Clark miserable always had torn Chloe. Knowing that it was always Lana who was the 'happy' one also irritated Chloe at some point. Being happy with Clark's nemesis was another reason she had never tried to know more. And when someone tell you they are happy, there is no point in trying to search for problems. It wasn't as if Lana would have listened anyway.

Soon, Chloe realized she had stop packing and was there, staring at Lex, having a conversation. "I should finish packing that.." She said as she distractly started to pack a new box.

******

Lex watched Chloe closely for a minute as he pondered her words. So Lana had told Chloe about Lionel, but she had seemed happy at the same time. He wondered what his wife had confessed, in that case - that Lionel had merely given her a nudge down the aisle or that he'd threatened her to do so. Of course, Lex didn't need to use much imagination to figure out what kind of leverage his father would have used on his wife. If it weren't for the fact that he currently hated Lana more than he hated Clark, he'd have happily made the threat himself: me or him.

He ignored Chloe's comment about having to finish packing. He had to know exactly what she'd been told and when she'd been told it. It didn't really matter in the end, he supposed, whatever she said, and it wasn't likely to make him feel better. But he had to know. He had so many questions, and he needed the answers.

Stepping close to her, he intentionally crowded her as he demanded softly, "What did she tell you about my father? What kind of help was she looking for when she went to you? Did you really believe she was happy when she told you so, or did you believe it because you wanted to?" The last question was directed at Chloe because it was a question he was asking himself. "And how did you find out that everything she was saying was a lie?"

He heard Chloe's phone ring, but he placed his hand on the door frame, blocking her exit as he stared into her eyes. He wanted answers. He needed answers, actually. "Do we even know," he asked softly, "the baby was mine?"

Because trapping her until she answered him would only be counterproductive, Lex slowly dropped his hand to his side and took a step back, watching Chloe closely. Waiting to see what she'd do.

******

Chloe looked at Lex, her eyes locked with his, as she made one step behind, but got stopped by the wall. There was something in his eyes. A mix of pain and other emotions that to be honest, she had trouble to describe. She didn't want to upset him - surely not after what had happen with Lana earlier, but would there be any satisfying answer?

"Lex,..." She started, but soon got interrupted by the sound of her phone. She gave a quick look. Lois. Damn. She had to pick it up. Her cousin was probably mortified. And as she looked back at Lex, almost as he had read her mind, he placed his arm on the door. The phone would have to wait.

Chloe couldn't reveal to Lex the threat. How could she possibly explain to Lex what it was all about then? "She wasn't specific at the moment... she didn't tell me much.. Only that your father found something to force her to..." She didn't end the sentence, since she knew he'd understand the rest and maybe hearing it would be a little more painful. "How did I find out? I digged, I asked questions... I went to see you... and you may think we're all seeing you as the devil and that your words are not taken seriously, but in my case, they are. I'm not saying I believed everything you said when you said them, but I looked for clues, for information and I've been able to confirm your says."

"Do we even know," he asked softly, "the baby was mine?"

Chloe's eyes widened and were soon filled with some sort of compassion as she sighed. She soon placed one hand on his upper arm, slowly rubbing as a way to comfort him, somehow. "Don't do that to yourself... Of course it was yours." No need to say she avoided saying that in her theory Clark might not be able to have kids and that as far as she knew, they hadn't sleep together for a long while. But again, how much did she know?

Lex frowned, but he took a step back from Chloe. He honestly didn't know which was worse: thinking the baby might have been another man's, or knowing it was probably him and that she'd hated him so much that she'd done all in her power to get rid of the child the two of them would have had together.

"I don't..." He paused and shook his head. "Answer your phone, Chloe," he said harshly instead as he turned away from her and grabbed a few more dresses off the rack and threw them in the suitcase. Let them all get wrinkled; he didn't care. Lana would probably dispose of them anyway, the same way she had the rest of their past together.

Chloe sighed as he looked away. She wondered what he was about to say. Lex didn't open easily. If at all. She didn't want to pick up her phone because of the situation, but she owned Lois some explications. After a slight hesitation, Chloe turned around and opened it.

"Hey Lois." She said, as she turned a little to see what Lex was doing. She didn't know why, but she couldn't get him out of her mind. And it made her feel disturbed. Really disturbed.

"Chloe? Are you alright?" Lois asked.

"Yes, I'm ok, Lois..."

"I slept like a log last night but it doesn't look like you came home at all."

"I..." But Chloe couldn't finish her sentence, as Lois continued. She knew it would come and she didn't really know how she could explain it to Lois. And mostly because, at this very moment, she didn't dare talking in Lex's presence.

"No, I know you didn't come home. You didn't make any coffee this morning. Are you ok? If you need some help I can come get you or there maybe someone else that can if I can't. And where are you?"

"I'm ok Lois, don't worry. I just didn't come home last night." She wondered how Lois would take the new. "I'm at he Mansion." She gave Lex a small look. "Look, I'll explain to you as soon as I can. Right now, I need you to listen to me. Lana is not herself." Ok, Chloe didn't know if she really was herself or not, but that was the only way to explain it to Lois.

"Im guessing Clark is on his way to find her... or maybe he did... But if you find her before him, be careful... she is armed."

"Armed? Oh...oh my god. Ok." Lois took a couple of deep breaths. "You think it's safe for Clark to be with her?"

Of course, Lois didn't know what Chloe knew. About Clark. It wasn't a gun that could hurt him. Though the idea that Lana might have some kryptonite on her was worrying her. "He knows. I called him to let him know." She turned her back from Lex as she continued to spoke. He probably didn't want to hear about Clark or Lana at this point.

"I doubt she's going to hurt Clark, but, who knows what she can do…"

"Don't do... Be careful, ok? Maybe you should warn Martha too... Let me know if there is a problem..."

Chloe then hung up and took a deep breath, before she dared to turn back to Lex. She didn't know where to start. Should she talk about her conversation? Or get to the point where he had left. Or just pack and go. "My cousin... obviously.." She said, as she made a step or two towards Lex, running her fingers on the boxes.

"So... you were about to say something..."

******

While Chloe had been on the phone, Lex had finished packed the clothes and had moved to other items. He'd tossed Lana's books into the box, but in the final handful, he realized he'd picked up a photo album Lana had put together. He listened half-heartedly to the phone conversation Chloe was having, making mental note of her words, wondering what outsider she had referred to.

As he flipped through the pages of the album, he tried to ignore the feelings that welled up inside him at the remembrance of happier times. Well, happier for him, clearly. Near the back of the book, Lana had put only a few pictures in of the couple since their marriage, and he supposed he should probably have seen that as some kind of sign. Two pages from the end, however, there was a photo of Lana and Lex together, their faces turned to look at each other. That Lex looked besotted was nothing new - though it was painfully demeaning - but he could swear, even now, looking at the picture of Lana, that she looked both happy and in love as well.

Slipping the photo out of its plastic sheath, Lex tucked it inside his pocket and tossed the rest of the album in the box. Let her have them or burn them; he didn't care.

"Nothing," he said woodenly. "It's nothing." He still wanted answers, but he was bone tired, weary of always having to fight a losing battle. "We're just about finished up here, I suppose."

"Ok..."

The more it looked like she was going to leave the Mansion, not knowing when and if she'd ever get back soon, Chloe found a part of herself not wanting to go. She didn't know why or maybe there were too many reasons, but she didn't want to leave Lex alone.

"I'm done with my part..." She said, trying to sound 'normal', although there seemed to be some kind of regret in her voice. She cleared her throat and turned toward Lex. "I guess we should put those in my car..."

******

Shaking off his rather inscrutable mood, Lex helped Chloe finish packing Lana's things and helped carry them to the car. It took a few minutes to get everything loaded, but when the car was full and most of Lana's stuff had been purged from the mansion, Lex stepped away from the car and turned to wish Chloe goodbye.

He stood in the front drive and stared at her in silence for a moment. There were a million things he wanted to say, and probably a million more than should be said, but he didn't know where to begin. It didn't help that over the past twenty-four hours, his own motives for keeping Chloe around had become vague and ambiguous until even he wasn't entirely certain he was merely looking for a way to use her to destroy Lana or if there was possibly another reason.

Finally, when the moment stretched so long that it was about to become painfully awkward, he said, "Well, thank you for...uh...your company. I hope this won't make things more difficult for you with...your friends." He was generally so well-spoken, able to think of the perfect thing to say in almost any situation. So why did he suddenly feel like an awkward idiot? Clearing his throat, he gave a little shake to his head and took a step back. "Be careful around Lana, Chloe. You don't have to believe everything I've said about our marriage, but I hope you realize after this morning's unfortunate scene that being around her may not be entirely safe."

Then he took another step back. "If anything changes with Lana's condition, please let me know." Then he offered her a small smile, his mind turning to other things. As soon as she left, he made a call to Lionel's office. The two of them needed to have a little chat.

******

Lionel was at his office working on some files for LuthorCorp. At least, that's what people thought he was doing. In fact, he was looking at the only footage Lana had gave him. Something she had copied on a CD. It was a short film about 33.1, showing some experiments on few meteor freaks. It was incredible what some of them could accomplish. And what Lex had been able to create.

Knowing what himself was capable of, he feared what Lex could do. He could do worst, Lionel could feel it. No, he knew it. And while Green Arrow and Clark Kent had been able to destroy 33.1 facility in Smallville, Lionel knew his son had built a new facility and Clark hadn't been much up to the task. It seemed recently Clark's mind was somewhere else.

Lana Lang. She was a distraction to Clark. He was hoping that now that Lex and Lana were married, Clark would try to focus on his mission. His destiny. Something Jor-El and Lionel both agreed. And luckily, by sending Lana into Lex's arms, Lionel could also benefit from keeping an eye on his son's machinations.

"Mr Luthor." said a voice, trough the speaker.

Lionel sighed. This would have to wait apparently. "What is it Miss Brooks?"

"Your son has requested your presence at his Mansion."

Lionel arched a brow, but slightly smiled. Oh well, oh well. It was time to give his congratulations on Lex's first week of marriage. What could possibly want his son though? If only Lana had get back to him about the hidden cameras that he had asked her to put in the study. She hadn't talk to him in 3 days at least and he was growing impatient. At least, maybe he'd get the chance to get new information from Lana.

"Tell him I'm on my way." He told his receptionist, after which he took out the CD and placed it in his safe. It was time to play the father.


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: Yay! I posted back to back chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 13: Cousins talk

* * *

While on the road, Chloe pondered what to do next. She clearly couldn't call Lana and well, Clark was probably with her. Maybe she could still try to call him, but on second thought, she decided against. He would call her if there were any problems. And if she didn't have any news in the next hour, she'd call to check up on him.

The best Chloe could do was to get back at the apartment, change clothes, avoiding Lois if possible *and her numerous questions* and maybe do some search on her laptop. Soon, Chloe arrived at the Talon and parked her car. She entered the place and went upstairs, realizing at the same time the irony that she was living in an apartment owned by Lex. She shook her head and chased the thought away as she turned the knob and entered the apartment.

The thing about small apartments is that it's really easy to know if there is someone in the place. And yet, as she opened the door, Chloe saw Lois standing right there. Chloe sucked up some air and closed the door. She wondered if she'd even be able to get away with it this time.

"Hey Lois.." She said, putting on her best 'fake' smile.

******

Lois had been in a hell of a state since she'd spoken with Chloe earlier, running it all through her mind. Lana was dangerous? Well, okay, Lois could believe that, she supposed. Not that she had anything against Lana in particular, but she'd never really seen her as the sweet and innocent victim that everyone else seemed to see. No, Lois could completely believe that Lana could turn against even her nearest and dearest when provoked, and she'd heard that Lana had some fighting skills, at least.

Rushing forward, she gave her cousin a quick hug. "Oh, thank god. You know I've only had about six heart attacks since we last spoke. Any news on Lana? Are you sure Clark's okay? Has anyone told Martha? How did you find out she was dangerous, anyway?" She paused and then said fiercely, "She didn't threaten you, did she? Because if she did, then the Pink Princess and I are going to have a little chat." Nobody got away with threatening Lois's loved ones. "You still have that taser I gave you, right? I want you to carry it everywhere you go until this whole situation is resolved. In fact, I'll get you another one, just in case. And I...hey! Wait a minute!"

She stopped mid-ramble and stared intently at Chloe. "You know, it occurs to me that you never told me where you spent the night, cuz. So how about it? Do you have a new boyfriend that I don't know about?" she asked in a slightly teasing note.

Then, switching gears without the clutch again, she returned to her previous tirade. "But if you were with your new Prince Charming, how did you come across Lana? How do you...you need to tell me absolutely everything, Chloe. Start from the beginning, and just keep talking until all my questions are answered or you pass out from lack of oxygen." Grabbing Chloe's hand, she towed her toward the couch and sat her down before joining her and turning to her with an expectant look.

******

Chloe couldn't help but smile at Lois. The way she seemed to be worried and over reacting. It was funny and sweet at the same time. "Yes mom! I have it!" She said, referring to the taser. Soon though, she dropped her smile. "I don't know Lois. Everything is happening so fast." She started.

Chloe looked away and stumbled with the words. She wasn't really good at lying at those things and surely not to Lois. While she could usually find excuses about Clark disappearances, she had trouble to come up with something that actually made sense about last night. Simply because it didn't. The more she thought about it, the more it troubled her. "Oh... I..."

Obviously, Chloe had to do some talk.. at least partly. She did trusted Lois. She would just have to censor the everything about Clark's powers, including the real threat that Lionel had given Lana.

"Ok.. Lois... This has to stay between us for the moment..." She looked dead serious. "Yesterday, Lana has decided to leave Lex. She told Clark she had been forced by Lionel to marry Lex.. I think to spy on Lex. Which is why you saw her at the farm that morning. She left the farm and went to see Lex. Of course, you saw what happened next with Clark..." She paused, to make sure Lois was processing everything. She wondered for a second how she would have reacted herself if she had witnessed Lex and Lana about to have sex in the study. Oh just the thought... Chloe chased it away as best as she could.

"Lana said she wasn't herself when it happened. She asked for my help. I made her run a blood test but it revealed nothing suspicious. I found out in the meantime that she lost her baby... on purpose..." Chloe looked at Lois with a certain sad expression. She hadn't realized herself that Lana could have done such thing. After a moment, though not too long so Lois wasn't going to ask too many questions yet, she continued. "Apparently, Lana has had some erratic behaviors lately and well, to get more information, I went to ask some questions to Lex." She didn't go in the details.

"Basically, he somewhat confirmed what I already knew. So I left and talked to Clark. Told him everything. We then tried to find Lana who had disappeared and we split. I went back to the Mansion, in case she'd come back." Chloe stopped.

Ok so that was the embarrassing part. What to say, what to keep to herself. "So huh... Well next morning..." She stopped, she'd have to explain where she slept. She had to explain why she was at the Mansion this morning. Damn it!

After hesitating and seeing how Lois was eager to get answers, she deeply sighed and looked a little nervous. "This.. Erhm.. When I went to see Lex the second time, we had a long conversation and somehow I ended up taking some wine and he insisted that I don't drive so he kind of offered me a place to sleep..." She paused but quickly continued before Lois would drop to conclusions. "In a guest room of course!"

After a moment of silence, in which Lois seemed to try processing the overwhelming amount of information, Chloe spoke again. "Hmm… Lois? Are you alright?"

******

Chloe threw Lois an awful lot of information that she had to process in a short period of time. Between Lana, Lex, abortions, love triangles, deception, intrigue, and now one impromptu overnight stay, Lois felt like she needed an aspirin and her mind didn't know what to focus on first.

"Okay...um...Well, Clark sure does know how to pick 'em, doesn't he?" Of all the things to latch onto that was probably the least important, but it did help to diffuse some of the drama in their conversation. "I mean, I never really saw what Clark saw in her, but... are you sure it was a good idea for you to stay with Lex?" she asked in an abrupt change of topic. "I mean, wow. That's kind of...awkward, isn't it? What with Clark hating his breathing guts and all. And Lana being your best friend. And... you know, it occurs to me that you probably know all this already so I should shut up now."

For three seconds, she managed to keep her lips tightly pressed together, but then she added, "But you know you can call me in the future if you need a ride, right? Just saying."

Three more seconds.

"And what the heck were you doing drinking with Le...oh...sorry."

Five seconds.

"So what do you think is really going on with Lana? I mean, have you come to any conclusions at all?" That seemed like a safe enough topic.

******

Chloe sighed. Of course it had been a bad idea. Somehow, she had betrayed her best friend. She didn't feel as bad when it came to Lana, but it was mostly due to the last day turn of events. She wondered: Who was Lana Lang? It came to her that maybe Lana really was the girl Chloe thought she was years ago, whe n she didn't like her. She also never would have been friend with her if it hadn't been of Clark. Few memories came to her mind showing Chloe that her 'so called' friend hadn't been really of a saint. She had betrayed everyone around her at least once. No, Chloe didn't feel as bad for Lana at this moment.

"Which is why this has to stay between us for the moment, ok? I mean... Obviously I will tell Clark, but..." She sighed and leaned her back on the couch. "I don't know why I stayed... Neither why I drank.." Her eyes widened as she looked into Lois's eyes, as if she had just processed the whole situation. "Oh my god, I drank... And with Lex... Lois, what did I do?! Clark's going to kill me!" She freaked out a little, knowing how important this minor incident would mean to him. Mostly when it came to his secret.

Even though this felt almost like a tragedy to Chloe, she managed to smile slightly at Lois's reaction. She loved the way Lois could turn everything less tragic, while still focusing on them. "I..." Chloe blushed. She hadn't call her and hadn't plan to tell her about what had happen. Despite she trusted her cousin, it was a little embarrassing. "I guess I didn't want you to see me like that... And.. I don't know..." She sighed slightly. "Next time I will... Huh. Not that there will be a next time... But you know..."

At the mention of Lana, Chloe's expression changed to be back more serious. "Nothing unusual in her blood like I said and, hmm… I'm starting to think she's having a nervous breakdown... Maybe something did happen yesterday, but since, she's become more and more irrational..." She paused and looked at her cell. "I hope Clark will know what to do."

******

Lois nodded with a slight frown. "As long as you're sure he's going to be okay. I mean, Smallville can be a little annoying sometimes, but I don't want him to get smacked around by Sybill or anything. But don't worry, cuz. This'll stay between us." And maybe Lois would do a little investigation of her own. After all, she was a largely disinterested party who wasn't inclined to let her feelings about Lana get in the way. After all, there weren't any feelings there, really, to interfere.

Then, though her curiosity was peaked, she decided it would be best to address Chloe's concerns first. And Chloe was clearly alarmed about Clark's possible reaction. With a nonchalant shrug, she said reassuringly, "I wouldn't worry too much about Smallville, Chlo. For one thing, you know how he is. He never stays mad long. And for another, he may not even ever find out. After all, I never would have if it hadn't been for the fact that we room together. Besides, nothing happened between the two of you, right? And if he can get off his high horse to associate with Lana after she and Lex did the Horizontal Mambo, started trying to spawl little baby Luthors, and exchanged rings to make it all respectable and everything, I hardly think he'll burn you at the stake for having crashed at his place one night when, as you've said, nothing happened except that you actually got to see the inside of one of the million or so rooms no doubt gathering dust in that place. It'll be fine."

"I'm sure you guys can figure out what to do about Lana, but if you need any help, just let me know."

******

"Thanks, Lois." She said as she appreciated to have her cousin backing her up. Clark was a person she usually could tell anything, but where Clark himself was concerned, the only person Chloe ever trusted was her beloved cousin. Trough all those years, never had she entirely trusted Lana. Never would she now, more than ever.

While she knew that Lois was somehow right about Clark, Chloe still felt bad. "Of course not Lois.. Nothing happened! We just talked..." Of course, there had been this tension around them. Sexual tension. Or was she just imagining it?

"Well, maybe you could start by calling Martha and warn her about the recent events." She sighed and looked at her cellphone. "It's been over an hour. I guess I should call Clark to see if everything's doing ok. I haven't heard from him in a while."

Soon, Chloe walked over her drawer and took some clean clothes. Maybe it was time to take a shower. That would hopefully help her clear her mind. And hopefully Lois would have an update on what was going on if Martha knew anything, once she would get out of the shower.

Before going in the bathroom, she called Clark but only reached his voicemail. *Clark, I haven't heard of you in few hours. Let me know if everything is going ok with Lana. Call me.* She hung up and put her cellphone back in her bag, after which she stepped in the bathroom and hoped in the shower, while Lois was making a call at the Kent farm.

******

Not long after Chloe had left the shower, she could hear her cousin yelling from the kitchen that her phone was ringing. She had barely put on a towel to cover herself, but she did need to take the call. Just in case it was Clark.

"Hmm.. Lois.. Care to bring me my phone? In my bag..." She said as she opened the door slightly to tell her, waiting in the bathroom as she started to anticipate her conversation with Clark.

******

Jogging towards Chloe's cell, which was still ringing, Lois said hastily into the phone against her ear, "Listen, Mrs. K... I gotta go now. This is probably news about Lana. I'll give you a call if we find out anything okay?"

Feeling bad about having to end the conversation with Martha so abruptly, Lois said her farewells to Martha and clicked her phone closed. As she reached for Chloe's bag, however, the phone stopped ringing and she scowled. Digging into the bottom of the bag, she didn't feel the phone right away, so she sighed and began to pull out some of the objects in the bag to make her job easier.

The second thing she pulled out of the bag was a file folder, and when she laid it aside, some of the pieces of paper within it slipped out and skittered across the table. Though she tried not to read the text as she slipped the papers back into the folder, a name caught her eye and she paused. Clark Kent. Why did Chloe have a folder about Clark? Feeling somewhat guilty, Lois scanned a little of the pages as she slipped them back into the folder, but in doing so, she realized that this folder didn't belong to Chloe. It belonged to Lana. What was Lana doing making a folder on Clark? And what could possibly be interesting enough to warrant it? Seriously, was it a log of how many bales of hay he was able to chuck within a certain amount of time, or how many times he'd tried and yet failed to fix his tractor?

With a slight frown, she placed the folder aside. As she stood and brought the phone to Chloe, however, she couldn't get the file out of her mind. Why was Lana keeping a file on Clark at ALL? She had a hard time believing he'd be okay with it, once he found out. But should she tell him? Was Chloe going to? Still pondering these questions, she stood outside the bathroom door and called out to her cousin, "Hey, I have your phone, but you missed your call! Sorry!"

******

Chloe had started to dry herself when Lois finally came to the door. She opened it slightly and took the phone. "Thanks." She was about to call back right away and when she hit speed dial on her phone, she realized it was Jimmy who had call her. Soon, she closed it.

He certainly wasn't calling at the right time, though, she'd expected him not to call her unless for work. Their relation was over and she didn't want anything to do with him anymore. Chloe sighed and put her phone on a drawer, putting some clothes on her.

While drying her hair, she couldn't help but wonder why Clark hadn't got back to her. After few minutes, Chloe finally left the bathroom and walked back over the kitchen, her cell in her hand. "Not Clark... It was Jimmy.." She sighed slightly and sat back on a chair. "You think I should worry?"

******

Lois honestly didn't know how to reply to her cousin's question. On the one hand, she thought there might be good cause for worry. On the other, it was also unlikely that Lana would really hurt Clark, even with everything. After debating the question for a moment, she shook her head. "No, I really doubt that Lana would try to hurt Clark, Chloe. She may be unstable, but I have no doubt in my mind that she would never intentionally put Clark in danger." At least, she had little doubt.

Still feeling a little antsy, Lois got to her feet. She'd replaced the file at large in Chloe's bag - not knowing if Chloe needed it for anything - but she had taken a couple pieces of paper from its contents. She honestly didn't know what to do about it all, but she wanted to at least give Martha a head's up. Though Lois didn't know why Lana would bother to keep a file on Clark, she thought his mom deserved fair warning about it all - and maybe Martha could illuminate the situation.

For a second, she considered asking Chloe flat-out about the file, but her cousin seemed to have so much on her mind at present; there was no need to add to it. They could talk about Chloe's feelings on the file later, after it was certain that Lana was no longer out there acting batshit crazy. "Look, I...I think I should go talk to Mrs. Kent. I really freaked her out on the phone, I think, and I want to make sure that she's not worked up over all this. You going to be okay, sweetie?" she asked, genuinely concerned. If Chloe wanted her to stick around, she'd do so without a second thought.

******

Chloe shook her head slightly. "Of course Lois. It's a good idea." She considered at first tagging along. Maybe she'd get the chance to meet Clark there too. Anything to avoid thinking about... Lex. She barely allowed herself to say his name... Hopefully, she'd been strangely attracted to Lex only due to the events.. Attract? No... That was impossible.. Damn, she really needed to work on something to avoid thinking about that. Speaking of work, it reminded her she should probably call Jimmy back.

"I'll probably call Jimmy back. I may have to go back to the Daily Planet. And I'll wait for Clark to call and well.. try to see if I can find more on Lana's actual state." Chloe sat on a chair and opened her laptop. "Let me know if anything happens at the farm..." She was about to let Lois leave and then reminded her something, in case she hadn't mention it before. "If you see Lionel, be careful, ok? I don't know what he is up to, but maybe he has something to do with Lana's behaviors..."

******

Lois was on her way out the door but turned at Chloe's last words. With a nod, she promised to do so and then headed out the door and got into her car. She really hoped Martha didn't wig out when she found out about the file Lana had been keeping on her son, but Lois had to admit she was still curious to know why such a file was being kept.


	15. Chapter 14

A/N: I'm on fire :p

* * *

Chapter 14: Luthor VS Luthor

* * *

As Lionel entered the study, an hour later, he put on a big smile, arms in the air. "Son, I'm glad I got to hear from you. Hadn't heard from you since the wedding." He made few more steps in and slightly shrug. "Well, I guess your wife has kept you busy." He then paused and looked around. scanned the room. No Lana around. Hadn't seen her car outside either.

"So, Lex, why did you ask me to come here?"

** ****

Lex looked up when his father entered the room and leaned back in his chair. He didn't know whether to be bemused or insulted by his father's charade, so he decided to go with the former because if he went with the latter, he just might be found guilty of patricide.

"Oh, Lana's definitely been keeping me...busy," he said with a smirk. Earlier, he'd thought he would confront Lionel right away, but now that he had his father in front of him - and after the comments his father had just made - he wanted to keep the news to himself for a bit. Toy with his father, and see what he would say. So, still keeping that slight lift in the corners of his mouth, he said suggestively, "I suppose I should have contacted you earlier, but then I suppose you would remember how it is in the early stages of marriage. I assumed you wouldn't consider that Lana's and my relationship would be the exception to the rule and be offended that we took time from each other to devote to dealing with the outside world for a while.

"Of course Lex, of course." Lionel said as he sat on a chair on the other side of Lex's desk. He kept his smile, refraining from asking why they hadn't gone on honeymoon, but here again, he had his very own idea of why. Last time he had seen Lana, she had gave him the footage of 33.1 and had threaten Lionel. She'd get revenge. If Chloe Sullivan hadn't scared him in the past, Lana Lang Luthor could only make him laugh. Poor little Lana. She was only a tool for him. And with her, he had been able to make his son happy, push Lana away from Clark and gave him a chance to keep an eye on Lex's secret activities.

"But it did occur to me that I hadn't spoken to you since the wedding, and so I wanted to speak to you to thank you for everything you did for me on my wedding day." Lex paused just long enough to see if his father would react to the subtle implication that Lex might mean the threat Lionel had made against Lana, and then he said smoothly, "I confess I was a bit nervous, and it was good to have someone there to make sure I made it to the ceremony on time and in one piece.

"When Lana and I spoke earlier today, she pointed out that I'd been remiss in not thanking you for your assistance earlier - that the wedding probably would never even have happened without you." He gave another slight pause. "The wedding planner you helped Lana find was absolutely invaluable, and I couldn't picture a more perfect ceremony."

Then he smiled and waited, curious to know what his father would say.

Lionel turned his attention over the bar, but at Lex's kind words, his attention was dragged back to Lex. He eyed him, trying to look into him, a smile remaining on his lips. Lex had something to say, but he was turning around it. Lionel wasn't going to be impatient. Lex was the son of his father. A Luthor. It was a game they had been playing for so long with Lex winning one time. And Lionel the other. Again and again. It was almost a ritual between them. A way to prove who they were.

"I'm your father Lex. It was the very least I could do." He then leaned his back on the seat of the leather chair and took out something from his pocket. He gave a small shrug as he opened the box and put it on the desk. "These were your mother's earrings." He had a little smile looking at those. "When you were a child, I took you with me on a trip to San Diego and before we returned to Metropolis, we stopped in a jewelry store. I was looking for something for your mother." He paused. He wasn't sure if Lex remembered. He was only 6 at the time. "I had no idea what to buy, but you, Lex, you already had a great taste in jewels." He pointed the light purple diamonds. "You insisted that I buy those ones." He then shook slightly his head. "Your mother wore them until... she passed away."

Finally, Lionel pushed the box towards Lex as he looked right into his eyes. "I thought maybe you'd like to give them to Lana."  
**  
****

Lex had never before been so tempted to punch his father's lying face. Without touching the box, he offered his dad an insincere smile. "I remember," he said softly and then shoved away the moment of sentimentality and said more forcefully, "Thanks; I'm sure it's only fitting to give mom's jewelry to the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with." Which wasn't Lana. "But I'm sure you know that Lana didn't marry me because I can buy her expensive jewelry." Well...given how she'd loved spending his money, it wasn't like she'd had an aversion to it either.

"I'm sorry you missed her, actually. I'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about." He paused. "You do love giving longwinded speeches on what it means to carry on the Luthor name. In fact, I've never known you to miss an opportunity." Leaning back in his seat, he offered his father an innocent look as he said, "So I'm obviously surprised that when you spoke to my wife before the wedding, you didn't bring the subject up, according to her."

After lobbing that bomb his father's way, he waited patiently for a reaction.

** ****

Lionel's smile slowly faded as his son kept giving hints of what he wanted to talk. At a certain point, he got it. Well, he had guessed for the entire conversation, but now he was sure. He knew about Lana. Or did he? How much did Lex knew? Thoughts were running trough his mind, not sure if Lana had been the one telling him or else. Though, it didn't make sense. Lana would have never gambled Clark's safety on this. Could his plan had a flaw?

After Lex was done, and still obviously playing with his father, Lionel offered him a slight shocked, almost offended look. "Oh Lex, what are you talking about..." He let out a small chuckle. "I told you I'd help you out. I went to your wife to talk with her and make sure what were her intentions." Lionel then looked at the box and closed it, taking it back. "Those would have been pretty on her... Oh well... It's your call Lex."

On this, elder Luthor took the box and put it back in his pocket, never stopping to look at his son. If Lex had something to say, he would say it. Lionel wasn't going to commit himself in a situation where he wasn't sure about how much Lex held information on the threat… if he even did.

"Was it all Lex? I have to admit, I was expecting a more warm welcome from you." He paused and dared to smile, just a little bit. Just to annoy his son. "But I guess some things will never change..."

** ****

Lex arched his eyebrows. "I never said I wouldn't give them to her. I simply pointed out that Lana didn't marry me for my money." He thrust his hand out and waited for Lionel to place the jewel box in his palm. Slipping it into his pocket, he decided to change tactics and go on the attack. They'd danced around each other long enough.

"You're absolutely right, however. Nothing ever changes between us. Of course, when I realized that you used threats to force Lana to marry me on the day of our wedding, I have to admit I appreciated your efforts on my behalf. Of course, I would have preferred a willing bride, but I suppose we both know that that's never going to happen." He offered a nonchalant shrug.

Lionel's expression started to change, becoming more and more serious. Lex knew about the fact there had been a threat. Once again, he wasn't going to fall into the trap and reveal to him what it was. There was no way he could reveal this information. It'd be too dangerous for Clark. "Oh... Lex... I'm sorry son, if she took my words as a threat. It never was my intention."

He looked somewhat sorry. And he was. He couldn't help but be ashamed of his own son. What he had become. Himself had never been an angel, but those years were behind him and for the last two years, Lionel had done his best to put Lex back on the right track. But it seemed it was a lost cause. Lex was a lost cause.

Lex continued. "However, my gratitude evaporated early this morning when Lana threatened me with a gun for your sins, Dad. You would think at the very least she'd have wanted to shoot the bastard who forced her into this situation."

Lionel had to admit he was quite surprised. Obviously, he had missed some clues about what was going on. "A gun? How... Why..." Why threatening Lex and not Lionel? He slowly frowned. Lex wasn't telling him everything. There had to be a reason she was mad at Lex. "I'm shocked that Miss Lang... I mean Mrs Luthor would do such thing. I have a hard time believing she would attack you without any good reason." As he spoke, his eyes were targeting Lex's.

Lex continued, somewhat ignoring his father's comments for the moment. "What I can't figure out is why you went through all the trouble of forcing her into a sham of a marriage, anyway. I know it wasn't for my happiness, since that has never been a concern of yours. So I can only assume it was because you wanted her to spy on me for you...and that begs the question, what are you looking for?"

"Spying?" Lionel had to think quickly. There had to be something he could pull out. "Unlike what you seem to think, I've always had your best interest in mind. You never trusted me to let me help you. You never gave me a second chance. If you would have, son, I'm sure you would think otherwise." He paused and stood up. "Why would I spy on you Lex? Is there anything you are hiding? Because, beside 33.1 that we've already discussed in the past, I find it hard that you could keep a bigger secret, Lex."

He then put his hands on his jacket, and turned over, making few steps towards the door, then looked back at Lex, looking right trough his son,s eyes. "On second thought, I wouldn't be so sure. So tell me, Lex. Would there be anything else?"

** ****

Lex almost laughed. "I didn't realize there was anything you would past me, Dad. After all, I am what you made me. A Luthor. I believe you said once that I had finally become a son you could be proud of. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts now?" he said tauntingly.

"I'm not hiding anything. But you'll never believe that, will you? Because as much as you pretend to be a good man now, I think we all know who you are deep down. The man who had his parents killed for the insurance money so he could build an empire. And you'll never give up the quest for more power, not even if it drives everyone around you away.

** ****

Lionel stood still, looking at Lex. Of course he was a Luthor. Always trying to have the last word. Always trying to put the fault at the other person. Pretending *he* is better. He remained silent on the first comment. How could he convince his son that he had change? Had never worked in the past, he doubted it would now.

"Lex.." He started, although he didn't know what to reply. This was another never-ending conversation. "I think you are mistaking, son. You are the one who would do anything for power. Even I never incarcerated people and make them lab rats. You have gone way further than I ever did..." He trailed off his last sentence.

After a moment, he made a step towards the desk, giving one more try. "You used to be in the right path and while I was blind at the time, I can say I'd be rather more proud of this version of you than what you've become."

** ****

"Look around you, Dad. Look at what all that hard work got you. You want to know why Lana wanted to kill me this morning? How could it even be a question? I'm not surprised she was willing to do anything she had to in order to get away from this family; I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did.

"But at least she had the good grace to kill your grandson first, didn't she? She'd rather abort her own baby than have it grow up in this family." He doubted his dad knew, and he didn't try to soften the blow. "I suppose she had more in common with Mom than I thought. Neither of them could bear the thought of spawning any more children and subjecting them to this family. You know, when I think about it, I think maybe she does deserve Mom's earrings after all."

Letting the anger drain from his voice, he leaned back in his chair. "I don't know what you threatened Lana with exactly, to make her walk down the aisle. But I can guarantee you it didn't do you any good. And since I know you didn't do it for my benefit, let me leave you with this little piece of news - she is no doubt over at the Kents' right now, fucking their only son. The son you always wanted. And since I know that you've been telling yourself lately that everything you do is in Clark's best interests, I asked you over here to ask you one question. What have your Machiavellian schemes gotten you, Dad?"

Lex smirked. "You can pretend to be a good man now, but you and I know the truth. You've ruined everything good you've ever touched. I'm only following in the family tradition." Then, with a slight chuckle, he added, "And, Dad? You have no idea what I'm capable of. You might keep that in mind, the next time you think about trying to interfere in my life. And don't even pretend you did so out of any concern over me. You can be a heartless bastard all you want; I don't even care that I've always been a disappointment to you. But don't fool yourself into thinking for one second that I'm an idiot. You shouldn't underestimate me. After all...I learned from the Master, didn't I?"  
**  
****

"What are you talking about Lex?" Lionel couldn't believe it. Lionel's jaw dropped, in shock. It had to be Lex's fault. There was no logical reason for her to do that other than Lex. "Don't you dare say anything against your mother!" He looked away for a second then back at Lex, both still in shock but upset. "What have you done Lex? What have you done..."

Lex clearly was in another league now. Not only had he learned from the master, but he had surpassed him. From beyond. His eyes remained locked with Lex's for a moment, unable to get behind those dark blue eyes. Obviously, Lex was a loss cause. With or without Lana, he would do anything in his power to stop his son.

After a moment, Lionel put his hands into his pocket and looked away. "Well... I guess I better get going... I don't have any reason to stay here.." He said as he turned slowly away, facing the doors. He had other business to deal with. Things he hadn't plan but needed to be taken care of.  
**  
****

Lex stared at his father. He didn't know why it surprised him that his father would automatically assume that, if something happened in his relationship with Lana, it was his fault. He didn't know why it surprised him to see that look in his father's eye, the one that showed that Lionel had given up on him completely.

He didn't know why it hurt, but it did.

"I loved her, Dad. That's all I did. Why is that so impossible to believe?" He wanted to say the words, but Lionel never would believe them anyway, so there was no point. He had long ago stopped asking his father to believe in him, to love him. He would never degrade himself by seeking the unattainable again.

Instead, he said, "Don't worry, Dad. You're not the only one who's convinced that I had to have been a monster to poor, sweet, innocent Lana in order to turn against me." He almost believed it himself. "Of course, it's also always possible that I just followed in your footsteps and treated her the same way you treated Mom. Drove her insane, so why should Lana fare any better?"

Then Lionel said he should leave, and Lex saw it in his face again. He almost commented on it. No wonder Lionel thought of Clark as the son he'd never had; they both had identical expressions of disappointment and rejection on their faces. It was clear that, in his father's eyes, Lex was nothing. Lex was the demon he was purported to be and always would be.

He was getting used to the expression, so often found on his father's face, on Clark's - the man who had once been his best friend, on Lana's. It hadn't been on Chloe's, but he had no doubt he'd find it there in time.

He told himself it didn't matter; he didn't care. And he tried to ignore the sting that tried to convince him otherwise.

"No, there's no reason for you to stay," he agreed softly. A part of him still wanted to grab his father's arm and beg him to listen, to believe him when he said that he'd done nothing wrong. That he'd tried the best he could to be the man Lana wanted - the one she deserved - and even with all that, he'd failed. He wanted to beg for another chance to prove that he could be the man he'd always wanted to be and not the man he was turning into. Instead of giving into the urge, however, he shoved his hands into his pockets and glared defiantly at his father.

Because what would be the point?

** ****

"Goodbye Lex.." On this, Lionel simply turned around and left the study, soon heading out of the Mansion. As soon as Lex would be out of the Mansion, Lionel would use his spy in the mansion to do what Lana hadn't been able to do. Finish her job. He knew Lex had cameras in his study. Now he had to find a way to get access to the footages. He first thought of Chloe Sullivan to help him. But he'd need a good reason to convince her. No, he'd simply use his own men for the moment. He needed some answers.

Once out, Lionel took his cellphone and called one of his assistant. "I need everything you can find on Lana Luthor's pregnancy. Everything, you hear me?" He then hung up and walked back into his limo, which soon left the Mansion's property, out of Lex's sight.

hy such a file was being kept.


	16. Chapter 15

A/N: Since I'm being harrassed by my own roomate *looks at Jade*... here is another chapter. Back to Chlex. And a little humour for those who wanted some

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Chapter 15: Invitation

* * *

After Lionel's departure, Lex remained in his study, lost in thought, not noticing the passage of time. There was so much for him to plan, so much for him to consider. What role was his father to play in the games ahead? Would he be instrumental in bringing down Lana - even if ignorantly so - or would he be a kink in Lex's plans? Either way, he was another player on the board - a player who was well versed in strategy and the Art of War and, as such, he was not to be taken lightly.

Did he dare try to play Lionel? His father was no mouse to be toyed with by a cat - he could just as easily turn into a tiger and maul Lex for trying. But, on the other hand, Lionel didn't know his only son as well as he thought he did; Lex was a far more cunning person that he was given credit. So perhaps there was still a trap to be laid.

The pieces were in place; all Lex needed to do was make the next move - the strike that would start to topple the rows and rows of dominos. And Lana was playing right into his hands. It wouldn't even take much to make her crumble. As if the people around him were pieces on a giant chess board, Lex imagined moving them into play and chuckled at the thought. Lana was the White King, vulnerable and defenseless as all her pawns had been toppled. Lex pondered all the other people around Lana, the pieces that were about to do his dirty work for him.

Clark, the unsuspecting Bishop (so patronizing and holier than thou) was being shifted across the board, to put the King in check in two moves. Lois, who wasn't involved yet but he had no doubt would soon be (her nosiness would work in his favor for once) - a Rook plowing ahead without much thought to the consequences - always moving in one direction, straight ahead, with single-minded purpose. Lionel, an unknown variable on the game thus far, was moving across the board - but would he be a Pawn or a Knight?

And then there was Chloe. Originally, he'd consigned her to the role of Pawn, thinking it would be oh so easy to push her into place and move her where he needed her to be. And, in the end, as were all Pawns, he had thought she would be easily sacrificed if strategy dictated it. But she'd surprised him over the last twenty-four hours, and he'd come to realize that in his giant game of chess, he had underestimated her. She wasn't a Pawn. She was the Queen, the most dangerous of all pieces.

Of course, the strategist inside him realized that she should be the first to go - in any game of chess, you always captured the other side's Queen first and removed her from play, effectively crippling your opponent. But, even as he realized that strategy demanded it, he was reluctant to do so. He tried to tell himself it was only because, as the most powerful piece on the board, Chloe could make the most effective Check Mate on Lana's King, if he could keep her from realizing that she was being moved into place to do it. But there was a part of him that wondered if he wasn't simply fooling himself.

Strolling over to the ancient ivory and ebony chess set, Lex let his fingers trail over the pieces, pondering the next move he should make. Should he capture the Queen, or should he try to move her into place? Picking up the tiny white piece of ivory, he gazed thoughtfully at it for a moment before returning his gaze to the board. Then, with a smile, he began to rearrange the pieces on the chess set.

Moving almost all of the white pieces and most of the black pieces off the board, Lex pondered the black pieces for a moment as he moved them into play. Perhaps it was arrogant of him to use black pieces instead of white, to represent the different people in his game, but he supposed that it was only fitting. Lana's friends may have started out on the white side of the board, but it was Lex, the Black King, giving them orders now.

First, he moved the White King a few squares from the corner and moved a Black Bishop forward to where he would put the King in check in a couple of moves. Then Lex placed the Rook in place - not in the sphere of the attack yet, but still a threat looming on the horizon. For the moment, he used a Knight to represent his father, though he kept him out of the side and out of play at the moment. A Pawn to represent Martha - not a threat to the King, certainly, but there was always the potential for a Pawn to become more.

After all that had been done, there were only two pieces left - the White Queen and the Black King. He picked up the White Queen again and pondered it in silence - it was the moment to decide. Should he remove her from the game or put her into play? As he thought about the question, he remembered the significance of the piece in his hand. The Queen was always the deadliest piece, but in every chess set, she stood next to her King. And the smartest of strategists kept her close by him to act as his shieldmaiden until there was absolutely no other choice.

Moving his gaze back to the board, Lex frowned slight as he slowly but deliberately placed the White Queen next to the Black King on the board. It was a risky venture, he knew, leaving her in play. It was also risky to keep her close - but perhaps...perhaps if he could keep her close by, keep an eye on her, and ensure that she was acting as he needed her to, he could somehow keep her from noticing that she was a white piece playing on the wrong side of the board.

With a smile, Lex stared in self-satisfaction at the board before him, convinced that he had everything in place - not realizing, for the moment, that while he was keeping the White Queen by the Black King for his own purposes, by actual Chess rules, she had him in Check Mate already.

Turning from the board, Lex strode briskly out of the room and up the stairs to his bedroom to take a quick shower and change clothes. If he was going to make sure the White Queen was not going to be a threat to him - and that she would suit his purposes, there wasn't a moment to lose. He couldn't let himself forget that the power the White Queen wielded could be his greatest asset - or the greatest risk to himself.

After showering, Lex dressed himself all in black - an ironic nod to the part he was playing in this little game. And then he called for his Porsche to be brought out of the garage, got behind the wheel, and headed towards the Talon, where he hoped to find Chloe. It was time to make sure he had the White Queen by the Black King's side.

******

Chloe had barely started to work on her laptop. She had decided to ask someone at work to cover for her for the day, so she could try focus on Lana. But her thoughts were trailing off in her mind and most of them were concerning Lex. She hated that he was troubling her. She wished she had never got close to him as much as she had done in the last 24 hours.

It used to be so simple. Hating someone at distance. Now that she had seen him under a different light, after being so close to him, she felt confused. And Lana acting all so strange and proving he was probably not involved in her condition wasn't helping. Of course, she still highly disapproved his lab experiments, but there was something she had seen that now was stuck in her head. Hope. She had seen hope in him. And for some reasons, she couldn't help but feel like she had to show him the way to the light. To the right path.

And as Chloe was trying to chase her thoughts, so she could finally focus on the problematic, she heard someone knocking. Thinking maybe it was Clark, or maybe Martha who might have come over here, worried, Chloe almost ran over the door and opened it.

Clearly, she wasn't going to chase her thoughts away that easily. "Lex..." After the surprised of seeing him at her door, she stepped aside, allowing him to enter and closed the door.

"Erhm… So… what brings you here?"

******

Lex smiled graciously as Chloe let him into the apartment, taking a surreptitious look around. He didn't see Lois, but that didn't mean she wasn't around. That he didn't hear her made it much more likely that she was out of the apartment. When he looked over at his hostess, he noticed that she had showered and changed since he'd seen her last, and she didn't look too harassed. Maybe she'd not yet been subject to some kind of torture to discern what she'd been doing with him the night before.

As he thought about all of this, Chloe asked him what he was doing at her place, and it was about at that moment that he realized it probably would have been a good idea to have some sort of story in place. Oh, well. He was pretty good at thinking on his feet.

"I was wondering if you play chess," he said and then realized that this was probably not a good subject to bring up with her, all things considered, so he rushed to cover. "That is...well, I admit that I was finding the Mansion rather oppressively quiet after you left so I decided I needed to get out for a while. And I...I thought perhaps I would see if you would be interested in joining me for dinner. As it's only noon now, I figure this gives me a good six hours to talk you into it." Then he paused and gave her a mischievous grin.

"Actually, it gives me about four hours to talk you into getting into a car with me, since the restaurant I was thinking of going to isn't exactly in town. But then I have time to talk you into actually being seen in public, eating in my presence. I've planned this in stages, you see."

Letting his mischievous look fade to one of boyish playfulness, he added, "I have a list of very good reasons why you should join me, starting with the obligatory 'I have to apologize for my former behavior and thank you for your help this morning' and ending with 'The restaurant I was thinking of taking you to has a dessert that's made up of three different kinds of chocolate, layered with chocolate mousse, and has strawberries on top and is possibly the most divine desert ever invented by man and you haven't lived until you've tried it.'

"There are a number of reasons in between; those are just the highlights. I'd be happy to go through the rest of them with you, but you might want to sit down. This could take some time. However, I might suggest that you cave sooner rather than later, because I'm not above preying on your sympathies but I don't think either of us wants to see how pathetic I can be when I confess that I'd rather not eat alone." As he finished speaking, he winked at her to lighten the mood and waited to hear what she would say.

******

Chloe walked over the kitchen counter and dropped warm coffee in her usual Tweety Bird coffee mug. "Coffee?" she politely offered, waiting to know the reason of his presence.

Apparently, he wasn't there for business. Chloe slightly frowned, noticing how he had gone from chess to dinner. She opened her mouth to reply to his invitation, which would have probably result in 'huh... huh...', since she was rather caught off guard.

Instead, Chloe remained silent, seeing Lex babble. A smile formed at the corner of her lips, finding his speech rather adorable, in some way. He seemed determined to bring her to dinner and without realizing it, she was blushing slightly. It touched her that he was apologizing. Clearly, she realized, she didn't know Lex very well and she was surprising herself more and more of wanting to know more about him. Lex had been honest enough to state he didn't want to be alone and given the situation, she understood and respected him for telling her. Hell, she never understood how he could have live all those years alone in this huge Mansion.

One question she had in mind, but didn't dare to ask: Was it some sort of a date? Of course, she'd never ask. It probably was a silly question. He barely had been dumped by Lana. She was just seeing things where there was nothing.

"I never knew you could have insecurity issues." She then took a deep breath and smiled, still slightly blushing. "And to answer your question... I'd love to go out for dinner with you Lex."

****  
**  
Lex clutched his chest and made a pained face, as if greatly distressed at her comment. "Oh, ouch, Chloe! You don't pull your punches, do you? Well, I'll have you know that Luthors don't have insecurity issues. Far from it, in fact. We're downright arrogant even. What YOU read as insecurity is...um...a clever plot to...lower your defenses so that you find me disarming and endearing both at the same time." There. That sounded plausible and he gave her a halfway hopeful smile.

Then he cleared his throat and approached the counter, noting the Tweety Bird on her mug with a grin he only barely managed to suppress. "Of course, now you've thrown a wrench into my plans. I'd planned on spending the next few hours waging a concentrated attack on your defenses, trying to convince you to join me this evening. I didn't expect you to agree so quickly." With an exaggerated sigh, he griped lightheartedly, "Now what are we supposed to do to kill the next few hours? You never do make life easy, do you? We're going to have to do something about that."

Chloe couldn't help but let out a small laugh. It felt both odd and good to laugh with Lex. It seemed as if she hadn't laugh genuinely in a while. Everyone were always so serious lately. Well, there was Lois, of course, but she hadn't seen her much lately. "You should smile like that a little more often", she said looking in his eyes. "It suits you better than you think..." Realizing it might have a double connotation, Chloe slightly blushed again, and looked away.

She took that moment to go towards the cabin to find a mug for him. As Chloe was walking over there, she chuckled softly. "You know me... I'm a trouble maker... I guess you're going to have to outdo yourself."

After her offer of coffee, Lex had nodded, and he watched as she walked over to a cabinet and opened it, reaching inside for a mug. Hurrying behind her, he used his height advantage to reach over her shoulder and began shifting the mugs around, looking for something. He had been intending to tease her, but he hadn't planned on how the sudden proximity to her would make him rather uncomfortably aware of her. The scent of her shampoo hit him, and he took a surreptitious sniff, breathing it in. After a moment, he cleared his throat awkwardly and realized that she was looking at him in surprise - no shock, since she no doubt was confused to find him so unexpectedly behind her.

"Hmm... May I know what you are.. huh.. doing?" Chloe asked. The proximity with Lex seemed to put her in a odd state. The same kind Clark used to cause... No... no no no... This wasn't the same… it simply wasn't...

In a half-hearted attempt to break the tension between them (which for all he knew was entirely one-sided), Lex dropped his arm to his side again and said lamely in a strained voice, "Um...I was hoping you had the whole Looney Tunes set and I really wanted the Pepe Le Pew mug."

"Oh hmmm... Yeah... Actually.. I do have it... Second table on your right." Chloe said, looking back at him, realizing once more how tall he was. At least, compared to her. She wondered for a moment if Lex had been feeling the tension between them. For a minute there, it had seem as if...

She tried to get a grip of herself and put a smile at the corner of her lips, trying to avoid the awkwardness. "I know you're just mocking me, but just for that, you really are going to drink in that mug. Frankly, I think it's going to be pretty amusing seeing you with a Looney Toon mug in your hand, contrasting with your perfect black suit."

With great dignity, Lex accepted the Looney Tunes mug full of coffee and took a sip, staring soberly at Chloe over its rim. He liked that he made her laugh, and as he took another dignified sip of his coffee, an idea of how to make her do it again came to mind and he had to suppress a smile.  
"You know, Pepe le Pew was always my favorite Looney Tunes character," he said conversationally. "He was always very...determined, you have to admit. He never let anything get in his way."

Grabbing her hand suddenly, he brought it to his lips and said, in an imitation of Pepe le Pew's voice - fake french accent and all - "'Ello, cherie!" He began to place repeated kisses on the back of her hand. Of course, if he were doing a true imitation, he'd be kissing her face, but he didn't want to get brained by a frying pan in the process. "And now, my little petit flower, we shall make together l'amour!" He kissed her hand a few more times with a great show of ardor. Then he began to cry out in ecstatic french about what a beautiful thought it was, the whole time making a great show of trying to pull a resistant Chloe into his arms.

After a moment, he paused and took notice of her resistance, saying, still in his Pepe impersonation, "Ah, perhaps you would like a little more... ah... appropriate setting for our romance! How sweet! How tout sweet!" As he began to kiss her hand again, he waggled his eyebrows up at her, enjoying the game for the moment.

He didn't even realize it was the first time in a long time that he wasn't thinking about Lana at all.


	17. Chapter 16

A/N: Ok ok... Here is another chapter. Another light one. Drama should be back in a chapter or two. Enjoy! PS: Give us (Jade4813 and I) some feedbacks please!! :)

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Chapter 16: Compliments

* * *

For a brief moment, she looked at her own mug and took a sip. "I was a big fan of Tweety Bird. I loved how he could tease Sylvester, even though he was confined in his cage. And he was such a cutie."

After putting her mug on the counter, Chloe felt her hand grabbed and a second later she was looking at Lex with a question mark on her face, yet her smile never fading. She let out a small laugh, forgetting for a moment who they were and what they were standing for. It was simply two persons having fun together and for her, Lex, at this moment, was a guy she was glad to get to know and regretted that she hadn't started sooner.

"You keep surprising me, Lex..." She slightly lowered her head on one side and seemed to been scrutinizing Lex for a second there. "I knew there was more than meets the eyes.."

Feeling she might have brought back some awkwardness, Chloe looked away and took a sip of coffee,. "So, anyway....", she said, as she devilishly smiled. "I may now have few ideas of what to do on our next... adventures. I'm sure even cooking must be an adventure with you!" She hadn't really realized that she was suggesting there could be a follow-up of this dinner.  
**  
****

Lex dropped Chloe's hand, letting the moment go. "An adventure, huh?" he said musingly. "You have no idea. How do you think I lost all my hair? It wasn't from the meteor shower. It was..." he lowered his voice and looked around as if looking for eavesdroppers. Then, leaning forward, he whispered conspiratorially, "a crock pot explosion." With a smirk, he straightened.

He almost didn't recognize himself for a second. Was this really him, Lex Luthor, relaxing and joking around without an apparent ulterior motive? Oh, but he did have one, didn't he? He was supposed to be keeping his Queen close. The very thought soured his mood a little bit so, to cover, he looked away and took another sip of coffee. "In all honesty, I doubt I'm a very good cook. We didn't exactly have a homey atmosphere when I was growing up, and I can guarantee you that no cook in my father's household would have kept his position if he dared distract me from more important things by showing me around the kitchen. But, who knows? Maybe I'm a savant in that area and can create crepes like some kind of...crepe-making...fiend." A corner of his mouth quirked up.

Chloe smiled at Lex, still trying to get used to this version of Lex. She didn't know if he always had been this way or if it was a recent change.

"Not good cook? Why am I not surprised?" Chloe added, teasing him. "It would only make it more interesting though. Here I was, thinking you were always up for a challenge." Chloe let out a little laugh as she took another sip of her coffee.

"How about you? Are you a good cook?", Lex asked.

"Me? Oh, well, if mac and cheese counts..."

Lex could just picture her moving around the kitchen, a light dusting of flour on her clothing and a smear of it on her face. Unlike Lana. Lana had been, as in everything else, pristine and untouchable even in the kitchen. Even by such a mundane thing as flour. "Damn it," he muttered softly to himself, trying to hide his scowl as he mentally berated himself for bringing that bitch to mind.

Chloe slightly frowned as she heard Lex and watched his expression change all of a sudden. "Hmm, Lex? Everything ok?" She asked, not having a clue of what had just happened.

"It's nothing. Forget about it," he said brusquely, trying to shove all thoughts of Lana out of his mind. Even the thought of her left a bad taste in his mouth, and he put his cup of coffee aside. But, still, there was a part of him that wondered what she was doing right at that moment. Where was she? Was she with Clark? Were they... Was she thinking of him? Did she ever... _Stop it, Lex. You're a Luthor, for God's sake._ he told himself sternly. These thoughts weren't getting him anywhere, at least nowhere good.

Looking around the room, he realized how different it was from when Lana had been in residence. It was even brighter now than it had been then, or it seemed to be. But he remembered her here. As he looked around, he remembered the day Lana had come home and found him in her apartment. She'd been wearing one of Clark's shirts, and it was clear that she was only just getting home because...

"Do you want to go somewhere?" he demanded suddenly, turning back to Chloe. He had to get away from these thoughts - they were like a virus, slowly taking over him. "We don't have to go anywhere where people might be see is together, if you don't want, but...do you want to get out of here for a while? We have some time to kill before we go to dinner tonight."

"Now? Well I guess..." Her first thought was concerning Clark and Lana. What if they called while they were out somewhere? Of course, she'd bring her phone, but if for some reasons they needed her to work on her laptop...

Chloe shook her head. It was ridiculous. She felt like living each moment of her life in sync with Clark and in anticipation of everything that happened to him. She had her own life after all. She was able to make her own decisions. And if Clark wasn't calling, she doubted it was because he was in trouble. He probably had forgiven Lana as usual and was spending time with her. Maybe he was mad at Chloe. Well, he could only get more mad, because she didn't have much intentions on backing up now.

"I'd suggest the Talon, but I guess that doesn't really belong in the 'somewhere else' category." She paused and tried to think. Where to go...

"I don't really mind going out, but I'll actually be impressed if you can survive a whole day hanging out with someone who actually has opinions." She said with a smirk. But quickly, this smile faded and her expression changed. "Well I didn't mean Lan..." And changed again. "Erhm… I'm sorry.. I didn't mean..." Chloe grabbed her coat and her purse, standing up. "So, anyway… shall we go?"

Chloe had no clue where they were going. But as long as it was in public, she didn't care. Anything to avoid this.

******

Grateful at the small distraction her jibe created, he let his dark mood pass and tried to inject some levity back into the situation. "A woman with opinions?" he said in scandalized horror. "Heaven help me. As if women don't make life complicated enough without them having to be all opinionated as well." Wanting to put her at ease again, he said accusatorially, "And are you saying that I typically go for the type of woman who's easily biddable, agreeable, and doesn't have two brain cells to rub together? Because if so, then I would counter that...well, okay, that's probably true. What can I say? Money attracts the brainless. Which is why, I suppose, you never gave me the time of day, no matter how charming I was. And also probably explains why I find you so intriguing. You've always..."

Only when it was too late did Lex realize how his joke had come off. Now Chloe was probably going to think that he had been chasing after her or something. And that he was interested in her. Which, if she had a brain in her head (and she did) and if experience told him anything (like women liked to try to kill him) meant she was probably three seconds away from running screaming away from him. If that.

If only Lex knew Chloe once had a crush on him. He had been his savior after all, in the past. The way he had been concerned about her safety, asking her many times if she still wanted to help him to put his father in prison. All those things had made something built inside teenage Chloe who was barely recovering from the wound Clark had let in her heart.

Of course, she would NEVER tell this to him. And surely not since she still found him... attractive... and the more she got to know him, the less she felt guilty about it. It was more easy to be attracted now that Lana didn't care about him anymore and that Chloe had decided by herself to give another chance to Lex, not placing him anymore in the 'mortal enemy' place. All of this though, still didn't make it right. He was still Lana's husband. He was still Clark's foe. Not right...

"I...uh..." This was awkward, and Lex, who usually had a glib response at the tip of his tongue, found himself uncharacteristically speechless. In an attempt to recover, he said, "You know, we've always had a...a bit of an adversarial relationship, I mean. And I've always thought...that is, I've wondered...er...why you're friends with Lana and Clark when they...you know...don't always reciprocate. That's what I meant by intriguing. You don't have to worry that you're going to be on the receiving end of..." Yeah, okay, best not to go there and risk insulting her by going too far in trying to reassure her, thereby giving her the wrong impression on the OTHER end of the scale. "I mean, I don't want you to think you're about to be touched by the Lex Luthor Curse."

_Well. That went...abysmally_, he chastised himself. At least he knew one thing was true - he was definitely much more adept at destroying people than at being nice to them and putting them at ease. At this rate, Chloe would either be filing a restraining order against him by the end of the evening or she'd be taking a page from Lana's book and trying to kill him. And given that he knew he had to be completely freaking her out right now, he wasn't entirely certain that either reaction would be undeserved.

After he was finished, Chloe decided to put a smile on her face, a little mocking him, as she opened the door of her apartment, so they could leave it. She decided not to go down that road. She wasn't sure if she had been touch by the Luthor curse, but clearly she was afraid she was catching a fever. The Lex Luthor fever.

"I'm not afraid of that Lex. Plus, doesn't it take a killer gene to be eligible to date you?" She added with a wide mocking smile.

Lex laughed, glad that Chloe wasn't taking offense. "It is, in fact. Actually, just between you and me, it's an agreement I have all of my potential future wives sign. Most men have their fiancé sign a simple prenuptial agreement that protects their assets should anything go wrong in the marriage. I like to have my fiancée's sign an agreement that at some point during our marriage, they will try to kill me. I have to admit, some of them have been more gung-ho about it than others. It does, however, make life more interesting.

Chloe couldn't resist and laugh. He could be so adorable. Her expression slightly changed as she realized what she had just been thinking. Had she really *said* adorable? She shook her head as she followed Lex outside. She had to think about something else. Think of him on a different angle. "I see. Well, next time you sign an agreement like this with a new girlfriend of yours, let me know so I don't actually try to risk my life to save your ass. I wouldn't want to suck the fun out of it."

Lex laughed at her words, then said reassuringly: "You should feel safe though, as we're only going out to dinner together, but just so you know, I've been thinking lately of having any woman I'm seen regularly with sign a similar agreement. I mean, I could continue to keep marrying women to get this kind of excitement in my life, but I've discovered it's hard on the furniture and the housemaids complain about all the extra work."

Though he was joking, there was a touch of wryness to his voice. It wasn't entirely lost on him that every woman he'd loved had tried to kill him at one time or another. It also wasn't something that didn't hurt a little, at least.

"If, however, we continue to see each other...socially, of course...and I get you to sign an agreement, I'm going to have to ask you to be mildly inventive with your method of trying to off me. Of course, a gun is a tried and true method, but it's incredibly passé, and I'm a little disappointed that my last wife couldn't think of something better. Let's see...Desiree tried to get other people to kill me for her, and Helen was crafty enough to crash my plane while we I was on it. (And if you ask me, she should have waited until we were returning from the honeymoon, because I had quite the trip planned.) I've also...hm... had someone try to set me on fire, and another person has tried to poison me. Not someone I'd ever dated, of course, but still, I think we should try to be more original.

"I have complete confidence, however, that if you tried to do me in, you'd be crafty enough to succeed," he said with mock solemnity as he offered the compliment.

And then he realized she had said something very intriguing. Their next adventures. She wasn't running away from him; she even seemed to imply that this was going to be the first of what could be maybe a number of times the two of them saw each other socially. He had to admit, he was pleased. For his plan. Of course. And only that. His plan was working and that made him pleased. That was it.

As they walked outside into the sunlight, Lex arched his eyebrows, threw his arms out at his sides, and asked dramatically, "So, Miss Sullivan, the world is your oyster. What would you like to do today, and in what country would you like to do it? Because, you know, if you've always dreamed of seeing Italy, I happen to have - and I don't mean to brag - a personal jet at my disposal." Grinning, he leaned down and whispered, "But if I'm allowed to brag, I'll admit I actually have two."

"No wonder why you end up with brainless women who marry you for your cash. If you brag that much when you date a woman, there really is no wonder." Chloe, after letting out a laugh at his comments. She couldn't end but find him adorable.

Lex chuckled when Chloe teased him about bragging to get girls. "Actually, I brag a lot more," he joked. "I'm toning it down for you. But normally, I'm quite shameless about it. It's sickening. Really. I embarrass even myself. But, hey, it works!"

Chloe took a deep breathe and tried to be a little more serious. "I.. Well, thanks, but no thanks. The rest of the world will have to wait for our next adventures. As for now, may I suggest coffee?" Chloe slightly grinned. "Yeah, I know, not much inventive, but lately I haven't had much of a life... I forgot what normal people do in their free time." She realized he might not understand much what she meant by all this. Her free time had been used to search meteor freaks or phantoms with Clark. And now the Lana problem. "Well.. I mean, since I've been working a lot lately.." She said to explain. "Unless you have a better idea..."

Brushing past it at the moment, he arched his eyebrows at her in disbelief and said in a lightly teasing tone, "You're asking me what normal people do in their free time? Hm. Well, I don't know that I've ever been accused of being normal, but in my spare time, I try to think of ways to take over the world. When I was growing up, it was either that or learn to knit, and I just don't have the patience for all that counting and...yarn...and stuff." He had no idea what was involved in knitting, but he was pretty sure yarn and counting were both in there somewhere.

"I hear, though, that other people go out for coffee. And...I don't know...maybe scones. Coffee and scones. I suppose we could do that. And then we can try other "normal" things...like...um...we can hit on random strangers in bookstores and then...indulge in some retail therapy and...and then maybe we can each have a torrid affair with the person we met at the bookstore, who will then turn out to be our biological father's twin brother's child - though our father wasn't aware he had a twin - and the child is actually here in Smallville bent upon our destruction. And then we'll discover we were switched at birth and it wasn't actually us they wanted to kill, but by that point it doesn't matter anymore because we've fallen hopelessly in love with our would-be assassin and we're going to get married instead. Until one of us is possessed by a demon, but that's for next week."

Pausing, he threw Chloe a triumphant look. "Normal people do that, right? Or...huh...was that just something I got from one of my last wife's weekly soap operas that she just cannot turn off no matter how much you offer to pay her to get her to do so?"

******

This conversation was so entertaining. It briefly reminded Chloe of their first conversations ever, when the world wasn't at stake. It used to be as light as this. She remembered his smile at her. It used to make her feel important. While she had been investigating Luthor Corp several times, she had always been aware of the fact that he always had made sure she received the best care when she was injured. Well, once upon a time... A long time ago...

A smile remained on her lips as she listened to Lex's babbling. It was definitively adorable. She didn't remember hearing Clark or Lana ever mentioning something about Lex being like that. So light. She didn't know if they ever had the chance to see it from their very own eyes, but she was glad she did. And it only fed her curiosity. She wanted more of this.

After a smile silence, which she took to catch after her breath, Chloe looked at her watch then back at Lex, never her smile fading. "I know a coffee place not too far from here. We should walk to it... unless Luthor's feet aren't used to walk more than 20 steps in a row..." She added with a smirk.

******

Lex looked pained. "Must I? Can't we be carted around like Roman Emperors?" With a slight pout, he sighed heavily. "Okay, fine. I guess I'll try this "walking" thing that so many people rave about. But I think it'll probably be highly overrated.

Offering her his arm, he stared into her eyes, daring her to take it. And as he waited, he looked at her closely for the first time in what had probably been a long time - for the moment not assessing her as a possible pawn in his ongoing war with Clark or the one he'd just waged with Lana. He wasn't looking at her as something to be used; he was looking at her and trying, for the first time in years, to see Chloe Sullivan.

He wondered what made her tick, what thoughts were churning behind those clever green eyes. He'd often wondered what she was thinking when the two of them were in a conversation, but for the first time in a long time, he wasn't thinking about games and strategy and keeping the upper hand. He was just curious to know what she was thinking - about him, about the day...about coffee.

Clearly, he'd lost his mind.

But it was nice to indulge for the moment, to pretend for a moment that he was a man like any other, a normal guy with a normal girl on his arm. Not the son of the Devil escorting a woman he was planning on using to further his own ends. Even thinking about that at the moment left a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn't letting his vendetta go - but he was beginning to think it might not kill him to put it aside for ten minutes or so.

He wondered why she'd agreed to go out with him, and if he was any other guy with any other girl, he'd probably ask. But just because he'd put aside his vendetta for the moment didn't mean that she'd forgotten the long and somewhat difficult past between them. So maybe he shouldn't ask. But he did find he was still curious about Chloe Sullivan - who she really was, not the picture that had been painted for him by an indecisive (and possibly moronic) Clark Kent years ago. He wondered how much of the image he had of her in his mind was simply the perception of her he'd gotten from Clark.

He didn't want to see Chloe from Clark's eyes, not even a little, not right now. Of course, for practical reasons it was best if he didn't, because then he could have a severe flaw in his otherwise perfect plan. But also, on this day, he was simply amused by the thought of indulging his idle whim: getting to know the woman before him.

"If you care to take my arm, my lady, I'll somehow manage the strength to escort us the next twenty steps or so to get you the promised cup of coffee - and maybe a scone. But in return, if I have to suffer through actually walking, you have to answer a question for me." He paused and then said more seriously, "Actually, you don't have to, but if you don't mind, I'll ask it anyway.

"Chloe, you're smart, you're funny, you're charming, and you're witty enough to keep me on my toes in any conversation. So if you don't mind me asking...what are you still doing here in Smallville? You could be anywhere, doing anything. You could have kings and world leaders lying at your feet, but you're wasting time here in this dead-end town. So why do you stick around?"

He waited to see if she'd pick up either gauntlet he'd thrown down: his arm and/or his question. He wondered if they could do it - pretend to be any other two people on the planet, getting to know each other for the first time. Or would other ghosts always get in the way?


	18. Chapter 17

A/N: It was already up on Naughty-Seduction, so here is the next installment. Some angst coming soon...

* * *

Chapter 17: Coffee Time

* * *

_"If you care to take my arm, my lady, I'll somehow manage the strength to escort us the next twenty steps or so to get you the promised cup of coffee - and maybe a scone. But in return, if I have to suffer through actually walking, you have to answer a question for me."_

"Chloe, you're smart, you're funny, you're charming, and you're witty enough to keep me on my toes in any conversation. So if you don't mind me asking...what are you still doing here in Smallville? You could be anywhere, doing anything. You could have kings and world leaders lying at your feet, but you're wasting time here in this dead-end town. So why do you stick around?"

So Lex wanted a compromise, did he? She supposed she could deal with that, she decided as she took his arm. At first, it felt weird. Not unpleasant. Just odd.

She didn't know how to answer his question, though, so she stalled for time. "Didn't you forget astonishingly gorgeous?" she teased. Of course, she had never thought she was the sexy or gorgeous type. Lana had always been the beautiful one, while Lois was the sexy one.

Lex looked at Chloe in surprise when she called him on failing to call her beautiful. He was genuinely shocked that she would have wanted him to do so, and so he answered honestly, "Don't get me wrong, Chloe. I haven't failed to notice how beautiful you are. In my experience, however, plain women like to hear empty compliments because they like to think that they're somehow more than what they are. Stunning women - women who get by on their looks alone and generally don't have much else going for them - like to hear how beautiful they are because they generally recognize that they got to whatever position they've achieved in life based upon their pretty faces and like knowing their position won't be usurped any time soon.

"Truly beautiful women, however, tend to recognize how beautiful they are, but they have much more to offer than just their pretty faces. They also generally grow suspicious of those who would compliment them on their appearance, because while they are beautiful, they are not - and do not want to be - defined by their beauty alone. You're beautiful, Chloe, but there's much more to you than your pretty face, and I wouldn't want you to think that I don't recognize that. I also realize that my motives for complimenting you at all are likely suspect, so I didn't think it was a good idea to compound the problem. But don't suffer under any misapprehensions that I'm somehow blind...or somehow oblivious to what is so obvious." As one corner to his lips quirked upwards, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Besides, I have no doubt that you hear how beautiful you are on a fairly regular basis. I'd hate to be redundant."

Chloe thought her cheeks were going to catch on fire. She hadn't really expected him to actually reply to her comment, particularly not as he had. Chloe was left totally speechless, for once. She didn't know if she should thank him or feel embarrassed. While she had been told few times by some men that she was beautiful, never had she been complimented by someone in this way. Her whole plan to give Lex a chance was clearly taking a slight twist to what she had expected at first.

"Wow... huh... Thanks..." she finally managed.

If Lex noticed her sudden discomfort, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he lifted his eyebrows challengingly at her and said, "And you haven't answered my question."

"I… huh…" Chloe still didn't know what to reply. Of course, part of her the reason she'd stayed behind was because of Clark. But, really, why was she staying? Of course, her best friends were here, her cousin was here, but was there anything else? "Well, in my defense, I did move in Metropolis last year. But then they shut the dorms for a while because of Dark Thurs... Well… you know…" She trailed off, feeling once again she was recalling a dark past, which hadn't happened all that long ago.

"So anyway... I moved back with my cousin because let's face it, between the classes at the university and my crappy, not so well paid, job in the basement of the Daily Planet, I couldn't really afford the luxury of an apartment in Metropolis. So I moved with my cousin."

She shrugged and then nodded to the building in front of her. "Here we are," she said as they approached the front door.

Though she could easily have used the distraction to release his, Chloe didn't. She was somehow enjoying having her arm around Lex's more than she would have thought. "So, anyway… Perhaps I should ask you the same thing. You can have any women you want, you are resourceful, brilliant, and, well… charismatic.. It's been a few years now since you took over LuthorCorp. What keeps you in Smallville?"

For some reason, there was only one thing Chloe was hoping he wouldn't say: that it was because of Lana Lang.

At Chloe's question, Lex had to pause and think for a minute. Frowning slightly, he answered, "I...don't know, really. I suppose at first, I stayed in town because I thought I'd found something here that I'd never had before. Genuine friendship. Though that turned out to have been a self-delusion on my part, I suppose, by the time I recognized that, I'd been here long enough to...I confess...grow somewhat attached to the town." At least, he'd grown intrigued by the mysteries Smallville had to offer. "Also, moving to Metropolis would mean moving closer to my father, and that is something I am perfectly happy to avoid."

Speaking softly, he added, "And maybe I'm sticking around until I find what it is that I'm looking for...or figure out what that is." He didn't know why he stayed in Smallville when, as Chloe pointed out, he could have moved away ages ago. But every time he'd considered moving away - to Metropolis or any other city - he found himself delaying in making the decision to do so. He couldn't explain it; he simply had the feeling that there was something still left in Smallville - something he wanted, something he'd been looking for for a long time...maybe even something within himself - and he didn't want to leave until he either found it or resolved himself to the idea that he never would.

Chloe wondered how much of what Lex said had been the truth. Of course, she hadn't confessed to everything either; she hadn't told him that part of the reason she'd chosen to stay in Smallville was so she could help Clark. But she couldn't let herself forget that there were still things she didn't know about Lex, and she knew from experience – and from her position as bystander to the Clark/Lex friendship for so long – that Lex could sometimes be consumed by obsession. After all, she'd once thought that Lex had genuine affection for Clark, but he'd lost the man he'd once admitted was the best friend he'd ever had because he couldn't let go of his need to know the truth about Clark Kent.

Rather than talk about obsessions, however, she smiled softly and said, a little sarcastically, "Yeah, Smallville's a great town. There is just so much to do." If she was lucky, she thought her cheeks might have finally returned to their normal color, after flushing deep crimson at his compliment.

As they arrived at the cafe, Chloe chose a table on the outside patio. "Why waste such a beautiful day?" she asked as she stopped in front of the table and then looked at Lex, her arm still wrapped around his. She knew the next step was to release his arm and have a seat. However, she didn't move yet; it was as if her arm didn't want to.

"Can I offer you something to drink?"

At the question, Chloe slipped her arm away from Lex's and looked at the waiter. "Two Summer Blackberries please." As the waiter nodded and left, Chloe sat on a chair and looked back at Lex. "I'm sure you never had one of those. Best coffee/dessert ever."

"Never even heard of them," Lex admitted as he took a seat. He noticed the remnants of Chloe's blush fade from her cheeks, and he had to stifle a chuckle. Who knew it was so easy to disconcert the intrepid reporter? He'd done it without even trying.

As if completely oblivious to her previous discomfort (and the fact that she'd hung on to his arm a little longer than strictly necessary), Lex returned to their previous conversation and protested in defense of the small town in which the both of them lived, "You mock, but there are plenty of things to do here! There's...well, there's...Hmmm..." He fell silent and prepared to think. "I understand some people get a lot of fun out of cow tipping," he offered finally. Then, in a more confident tone, he added, "And you have to admit, for a small town, we have more than our fair share of excitement. Hell, the number of car accidents a year that take place within Smallville outnumber our population 4 to 1, I think. And I seem to recall somebody at this table used to have a Wall of Weird."

Ah, yes. That was another reason to stick around Smallville. So many mysteries. While Lex was currently conducting experiments of his own into the odd and unusual in Smallville, he did so in Metropolis - a bit inconvenient in terms of commute, but it was worth it to distance himself from his not-terribly-legal activities. Not that he would bring such a topic up with his present company; he had a pretty good idea how she would react.

"In fact, I seem to recall you had a file on me at one point...and, for all I know, you still could. I wonder...Do you honestly think I'm a meteor freak, or do you just find me so fascinating that you can't help yourself?" He made sure to keep his tone light; he didn't want it to sound like he was accusing her or demanding answers. But there was something a little...he decided to go with _amusing_...about the idea of her keeping a file on him. He also rather wondered what kind of information it would contain.

As long as that information wasn't derived via the use of Clark's telescope, Lex supposed he didn't mind all that much. After all, if she'd found out anything truly incriminating about him, she wouldn't be here right now.

Chloe sighed. The Wall of Weird. It reminded her all those adventures she had gone through in the past 6 years. And even though she didn't have any powers, she always had to be on guard and be ready to help Clark if needed. Because she was like that. _Loyal to a fault._ It had cost her any chance of a serious relationship with Jimmy, and even though she didn't want to blame it on Clark – she really blamed herself, truth be told - being a superhero's sidekick had not helped her improve her writing skills either. She rarely had time to concentrate – more recently, because she always had to work on something for Clark and, therefore, wasn't making any progress at the Daily Planet.

While a little lost in her thoughts, but still paying attention to what Lex was saying, she almost choked when he mentioned his own file. He knew? Of course he knew. He was a Luthor. Which reminded her when Lionel had asked her to drop the file she had on his son. Which she had. At least partly. Most of the information in it was still in her head. She even remembered what he ate in the morning. That thought made her smile. "Still eating Eggs Benedict?"

Soon, the waiter came back with the two big mugs. It was more of a dessert than coffee, with all the chocolate, the pieces of brownies in it, ice cream and berries on the top, but damn, it was worth every penny. "Thanks," she said to the waiter, after which he left.

"But to answer your question," she continued, "No I don't think you are a meteor freak." She took a sip of her drink and then curled her fingers one with each other, leaning a little forward to get more of his attention. She had never thought about it before, but it did sound interesting, the thought of sharing her theory with him.

"I do think, however, that you have been affected partly by the meteor shower. And I don't mean on a psychological perspective. I mean that while it didn't give you the ability to do something in particular, it changed the way your body reacts. You had asthma, and after the shower, you didn't have it anymore. You used to get sick, but as far as I could tell, you've never been sick since. Your white blood cells are higher than everyone else's." Of course, that proved two things. She did remember most of the stuff in his file, after all, and she was curious about him. He was the only one in her files that had never showed any signs of having a resultant power.

"And mainly… there is the fact that you survive from everything that seems to happen to you, but how you manage that is beyond me. Perhaps you could enlighten me?"

For a brief moment, she had forgotten she was talking to the man who had a secret lab. A man who did not have a very ethical way to get information from people.

"Ah, yes," Lex said, both amused and a little irritated by her confession. "Another thing I always admired about you. Your tenacity and your fearlessness. You realize that few people would be daring enough to have a file on anyone in my family, don't you? Even fewer would pry into my private medical file to do it. And fewer still would admit as much out loud. Tell me, is there _anything _that scares you, Chloe?"

In all honesty, he was a little irked that she had such knowledge of him. He was an intensely private man, after all - a man in his position had to protect what little privacy he had because he had so little of it to begin with. On the other hand, he wasn't lying when he said he admired Chloe for being bold enough to disregard the fact that most people would be trembling in their boots after doing half of what Chloe had apparently done.

Chloe smiled at the question. If only he knew that what she was doing with him was what actually scared her. That she feared she'd never find the right person. That she'd reveal Clark's secret, causing the end of the world. Fear she might be attracted to the last person in the world that should make her heart beat faster. She feared few things. If only he knew...

As he wasn't privy to her thoughts, he continued, "However, since you already have all the information anyway, I might as well enlighten you. As you discovered on your own, I do indeed have an abnormally high white blood cell count. I also haven't been sick since the meteor shower. I have, however, been shot, poisoned, and nearly set on fire. So I suppose it has its trade-offs. And as for how I've survived it all? What can I say? I'm a supremely lucky ma-"

He broke off as a flash of light out of the corner of his eye distracted him, and he turned his head, scowling at its source. A man was standing on the sidewalk not far away, a camera still pressed to his eye. Lex recognized him at once; he was a "journalist" for the sleaziest tabloid in Kansas - a tabloid that made the _Inquisitor _look downright respectable by comparison.

"Hey, baby! You're a new one! What's it like to be bangin' a billionaire?" the photographer called with a leer, taunting the couple he had just photographed together. Upon hearing the comment, Lex saw red and forgot for the moment that he was in public. Jumping to his feet, he leaped over the small wall of shrubbery around the patio area, abandoning all dignity as he chased after the photographer. At the moment, his only thought was shoving the large and rather burdensome camera...well, he had a graphic picture.

Before he could reach the photographer, though, the man was gone. Clearly anticipating such a move, the man had left a car running nearby; he had a tiny head start (also clearly anticipating the chase) and was able to leap into the vehicle as his companion pulled away. And then they were gone.

Lex chased after the car for a minute, but it easily outdistanced him. When he finally slowed to a halt, he cursed under his breath and glared daggers after the photographers. He knew what was coming, even if his date didn't.

With a heavy sigh, Lex scowled and then turned back to Chloe. Well, if her agreement to eat with him was reluctant at best, this would no doubt cause her to go the other way. Lex had no doubt that she had wanted their day together to remain between them, but that was unlikely to happen now.

"I'm sorry," he said softly as he returned to their table. "This wasn't how I wanted the day to go. And I'm sure you didn't sign up to be subjected to this." Knowing she was undoubtedly concerned about what would happen next, he said encouragingly, "It's possible they won't print it, you know. The picture. After all, we've never been seen together before, really, and if you want to end it here...if you want me to take you home and leave you alone...they probably won't ever put it to print. One coffee date with a new girl isn't interesting gossip, but if we continue to be seen together..." He let his voice trail off.

It would put a huge damper on his plans, but he wasn't lying when he said he'd take her home and give her some distance. Under any other circumstances, he wouldn't let something interfere with his plans, but this...he knew better than most what it was like to be subjected to the paparazzi. It had been just such a "journalist" who had informed him of his mother's death. Even as black as his soul was, he couldn't subject Chloe to such treatment.

Chloe had been surprised by the flash of light, and it took her a moment to realize what had happened. By the time she did, Lex was already chasing down the man. She wasn't sure who Lex was protecting by doing that, but it was actually flattering, to think maybe he was protecting her and not his ego. It also partly horrified her, knowing he had barely been dumped by his wife, who happened to be her friend.

When Lex returned to the table with an apology, Chloe shook her head. "Don't. It's not your fault." And it wasn't. Of course, he was the one attracting attention and of course he'd asked her out to dinner. But she had accepted. She had to take the consequences with him. And it wasn't as if there was something more going on between them. They weren't doing anything wrong. Were they?

Without really thinking about it, because Lex seemed genuinely concerned about her, Chloe put her hands on Lex's, where they were resting on the table, and gave him a comforting smile. "I'm here, ain't I?" Then she added with a teasing smile, "Now stop underestimating me and let's finish this coffee so you can show me where I'm going to look like crap compared all the rich people who will be eating beside us."

******

_In Metropolis_

Outside Oliver Queen's apartment, Clark checked that the coast was clear and then raced back to Smallville. It didn't take long, and he soon came to a stop in an alley. Taking a quick look around, he slowly stepped out onto the street and headed towards a pay phone as he searched in his pockets for coins. After finding a few, he started to put them into the phone. He was so used to simply having his cell on him; if he had it on him now, then finding Chloe would have been so much easier. He began to dial her number, and that was when he heard the sound of a little disturbance. Clark looked up to a photographer running and behind him was... Lex?

Clark had been so caught off guard by the sight that he didn't notice who it was that Lex had been sitting with. His eyes turned back to the now vacant chair and he saw her, sitting at the table with him. "Chloe?" he said. He didn't even realize the phone was still ringing. Instead, he simply held the phone in his hands as he watched Lex return to the table. Lex seemed to be saying something, and Clark focused his hearing so that he could catch the words. He heard how Lex tried to explain to Chloe that she didn't deserve this sort of treatment, and he couldn't help but agree. Of course she didn't. And then, Clark noticed Chloe rest her hands gently on top of Lex's.

His hand clinched tightly over the receiver of the phone that it crushed in his hand. Clark opened his hand and allowed the bits of black plastic to fall to the ground. He took a few steps forward and noticed the smile on her face, as she reminded Lex that she was still here. "She was right," Clark said to himself. "Lana was...." Clark bit his lower lip. This couldn't be happening. First, Lana... and now Chloe. Clark shook his head. He wasn't about to let this happen again... not to someone he cared so much about. Clark crossed the street and paused as he reached Lex's car. His attention was turned to the vehicle. Clark placed his hands on the hood of the car. After a couple walked by, he quickly pressed down on it. Part of the hood caved, but the pressure caused all four tires to explode.

Clark moved over quickly into the patio of the coffee shop, walking past a waitress that asked if she could get him something. Clark completely ignored her as the sound of Lex's car alarm began to sound loudly. "I can see the two of you are hard at work on finding Lana," said Clark as he came to a stop at Lex's and Chloe's table.


	19. Interlude I

A/N: Sorry for the delay.... Enjoy the next 5 chapters in a row!! :D

A/N: Clark and Lana's POV (necessary for the rest!)

* * *

Interlude I

* * *

****Earlier that morning****

_"Clark? Lana is unstable... She just left the Mansion... I think you're the only one who can talk to her at this point." She paused. "She is armed… Be careful..."_

Clark pulled the phone from his ear and closed it immediately. "Lana," he said to himself after Chloe told him that she'd just left the mansion. Clark quickly pocketed his phone and headed out of the house.

Clark raced out of the house, the door slamming shut behind him as he moved across the farm and onto the main road. He began to head towards the Luthor Mansion, hoping that he'd meet Lana's car as she was driving away. Suddenly, Clark could see Lana's car in the distance. He came to a stop in the middle of the road. He held his hands up, motioning for Lana to stop as she got closer.

******

Lana was on the road, trying to calm herself, feeling betrayed by Chloe and even more mad at Lex for doing whatever he had done to get Chloe on his side. Of all the people, she never thought she would be the one getting lured.

While she was driving, Lana noticed someone in the middle of the road. Clark. Damn Chloe. She had already called Clark to the rescue. If only she knew...

Lana stopped the car and opened the door. "What do you want?"

Clark watched as Lana got out of the car. He took a few steps towards her, his eyes quickly surveying her. "Lana," he said, finally looking at the brunette again, "Lana... you can't keep doing this... you can't keep running off." He took a deep breath. "I know that it may seem like everyone's turning against you, but we're not. But… all we want is to help you." Clark swallowed.

Lana looked away. "I wasn't running away... I told you I'd stay for the night... And I did. But… I had things to do." Knowing he would ask what, she turned to face him and took few steps closer. "I had to find what happened to me yesterday..."

"Listen, Lana," said Clark, "You know me... you know that I'd never hurt you. You know that Chloe is your best friend, and she wouldn't do anything to hurt you either." He moved a little closer. "And if it's Lex that you're afraid of... if you think he's trying to hurt you... I won't let him... we won't let him." Clark took a deep breath. "But Lana... you've got to trust me first."

Lana couldn't help but let out a sarcastic laugh. "Chloe... I wonder who she was helping this morning when I found her at the Mansion." If Clark couldn't trust Lana, there was no way she was going to let her be the one in whom Clark would put his trust. "You see... What I was doing this morning was sneaking in at the Mansion, before Lex was even awake. I've learned about his daily routine with time..." She paused again and looked hurt as she spoke. Her best friend had betrayed her after all.

"Realize my surprise when I found out Chloe was already there...."  
**  
****

As the words fell from Lana's mouth, he already began to draw the lines. Chloe was there... before Lex was awake. Clark knew what it sounded like, but that didn't make any sense. Surely, Lex's guards wouldn't have let Chloe in without waking Lex first. No, what she was implying... Clark shook his head. "No," he said simply. "No, are you trying to tell me that... that Chloe spent the night there?"

He knew it was the conclusion that Lana wanted him to draw, but he wouldn't believe that... he couldn't believe that. "Lana... you... you had to make a mistake. Chloe... Chloe wouldn't do that. She... she doesn't trust Lex enough to do that!" Clark sighed heavily, as he tried to think. Why... why would Lana make that up of all things. And then, he had to admit, it was still fairly early in the day. If Chloe were headed there this morning... surely she would have called him first... or left a message. The doubt began to set in as Clark started to believe that Lana was possibly telling the truth.

"What Clark?" Lana couldn't help but enjoy the doubt in Clark's eyes. "You think Chloe is all perfect?" She sighed and made another step closer. "I'm sorry Clark. I know you tried to reach her few times last night and when I came into the study, I found her coat and shortly after Lex came in the room, Chloe did too." She placed one hand on Clark's shoulder, looking sorry... and hurt. "I know how it feels Clark... She told me she'd help me out on the case and she seemed to defend Lex more than her own best friend..."

Clark still couldn't believe his ears. All the clues seemed to point to the obvious, but... Chloe... and Lex. It just didn't fit. There was no way shee would do this. That she'd forget all the things he'd done. However, he was quickly reminded that his own mother seemed to have a soft spot where Lionel Luthor was concerned. Clark took a deep breath. He then felt Lana's hands resting gently on his shoulder. He stared down at her, and for a moment, he allowed himself to believe that she was there for him... just like she'd always been. He started to reach out for her as well. In fact, his hands touched her arms, gently and then... the thought hit him.

"There has to be some sort of explanation," said Clark. "There has to be. Maybe... she was sick, Lana. Maybe...." However Clark couldn't come up with any other excuses. The only other explanation seemed to be the obvious. Clark turned awya as the pain... the very thought of Chloe being with Lex... it actually burned in his heart. Clark's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what was happening... and if his best friend really had... 'slept with th enemy.'

"Clark..." Lana reached out for his face, making it turn to face her, as she gave him a sad look. "I can assure you she wasn't sick". Of course, she had never say they had been sleeping together. But whatever Clark was thinking was clearly affecting him and there was no way she was going to let him think otherwise.

"I'm sorry... I wish there was an explication." Lana placed her thumb on Clark's cheek, slowly rubbing. "Nobody's perfect Clark. Not you. Not me. Not even Chloe..."

******

Clark sighed as he heard Lana tell him that no one was perfect. And that was true... she wasn't, he wasn't... and he knew that Chloe wasn't... still it was hard to accept. Why would she stay at the Luthor mansion, but above that, why would she lie about it. Over all, it simply didn't make sense. Clark sighed heavily and shook his head. If Chloe was being less than honest, then... it had to be because of Lex himself.

"Maybe... maybe we can deal with this later," said Clark. He looked around. "Right now, we need to get you somewhere safe... at least until we can figure out what's going on." He looked down at Lana and then at her car. His eyes turned back to Lana as he took a deep breath.

Clark took a deep breath as he tried to figure out exactly what they should do. The last thing he wanted to do was take her anywhere near Lex. Despite the information that Lex was giving them, he still didn't trust him. And after Lana's revelation about Chloe, he wasn't so sure if he should confide completely in his best friend... at least not yet. Clark took a deep breath once again. "We need to get you somewhere safe. And I don't think the farm is an option now."

Clark reached into his pocket. "Maybe we can get out of town for a while," said Clark. His eyes opened wide as he realized just the place. "I think I know a place that I can take you."  
**  
**Later in Metropolis****

"A friend of mine said that I could use his place anytime." Clark turned as they reached the living room of the Clock Tower. "I figured you could stay here for a few days until we figure out what to do next. Is that going to be okay with you?"

Lana looked around. "You have a nice friend", she said as she looked at the window, seeing the Daily Planet from there. How ironical. She was far from Smallville, yet so close of Lex and Chloe's work places.

She turned around after a while and walked over Clark. "Yes, I should be ok."

Suddenly, Clark's phone was vibrating. He looked at it and saw Chloe's number. With Lana just near him, he couldn't bring himself to answer. Instead let it ring until he noticed she had left him a voicemail.

_Clark, I haven't heard of you in few hours. Let me know if everything is going ok with Lana. Call me._

"I think I should take a nap. Maybe I'll feel even more better after.. and perhaps we can have dinner together?" Lana walked over Clark and kissed him on the cheek. She then remained her face close to his and looked at him.

Clark's eyes closed as he felt Lana's lips gently press against the side of his face on his cheek. He slowly took in a deep breath, almost wishing that her lips had found his own instead. However, as she began to pull away, Clark's eyes opened. When she said that they could perhaps have dinner, Clark nodded. "I'd like that a lot," he said simply. And in all honesty, he would. He liked having Lana, there... with him... and away from Lex. And speaking of Lex... there was still Chloe.

Clark slowly rose from his seat, and watched as Lana disappeared into Oliver's bedroom. A moment later, he was making his way back to Smallville.

****Present****

"I can see the two of you are hard at work on finding Lana," said Clark as he came to a stop at Lex's and Chloe's table.


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Caught in the Middle

* * *

_ "Now stop underestimating me and let's finish this coffee so you can show me where I'm going to look like crap compared all the rich people who will be eating beside us."_

"If yo-" Lex began, and then all hell seemed to break loose. A loud bang came from the direction of the street. "What the hell...?"

Before he could discern what had happened, Clark approached their table. Of course. Wouldn't he just?

There were times, Lex reflected, when Clark was just entirely too much to bear. Reminding himself that he needed Clark in one piece in order to destroy Lana bit by bit, he kept a firm hold on his temper, though the muscles in his jaw were clenched so tight he was surprised his teeth didn't shatter. However, that didn't mean he couldn't annoy the crap out of the other man, so he kept his hand right where it was. Under Chloe's.

"Clark. And why am I not surprised to see you here? You always seem to have a habit of showing up where you're least wanted," he said snidely.

Chloe wasn't able to pretend to be as unfazed, however, and her smile dropped as soon as she saw Clark. "Cl... Clark?" If there was something she hadn't been prepared to face today, it was Clark. Not in this kind of situation a least. She had hoped to see him, yeah, but surely alone. Now, it was.... embarrassing. She truly felt bad he had to see them at the coffee place.

Slowly, Chloe put her hands away from Lex's. It wasn't that she was ashamed of being with him or anything. She still meant what she thought about her own choices. She had the right to hang out with whomever she wanted. She had the right to give Lex another chance. But that didn't mean she wanted to hurt Clark in the process.

When Lex felt Chloe's hand leave his own, he couldn't say he was particularly surprised. Clark meant a lot to her; she wouldn't want to deliberately antagonize him. Lex, on the other hand, would be more than happy to do so for the both of them. "As a matter of fact, I have no intention of tracking _my wife_ down... and all things considered, I'm sure you'd much rather I didn't. She did try to shoot me, after all. And while I'm sure you could care less about that, she tried to kill your best friend, as well. I would have thought that, at least, would matter to you. But I guess it's pretty clear now that the only person you've ever given a damn about is Lana.

"So tell me.. .did you wait a whole five minutes after she married me to take her to your bed, or did you wait until today out of courtesy?" He was pushing it. He knew he was pushing it. The problem was that pushing it wasn't just cathartic...it was fun, as well.

Before Lex could continue, Chloe tried to intervene to diffuse the situation. "Lex…," she started to say, but in vain. She couldn't stop him. And she really didn't want to be there, forced to hear what they both these men had to say to each other. She certainly didn't approve of what Lex was saying or the fact that he was deliberately provoking Clark, and while she could understand partly why he would be so bitter, she really would have wished both of them would have refrained acting like Neanderthals, battling to know who cared more about Lana.

Though Lex heard her weak protest, it didn't stop him from continuing his taunt. "You know, I remember how your parents tried to teach you morals...I can only imagine how your father would be ashamed. How the mighty have fallen."

After twisting that knife, he suddenly switched topics again. "So where were you this morning when Lana threatened to shoot Chloe? Where were you when the friend who's always been there for you needed you? She could have died, you know. Were you too busy mooning after a married woman to care? A woman who..." he paused, catching himself before saying too much. No, all the marks against Lana's character couldn't come from him, or Clark would never believe them.

"I guess it's a good thing I was there to stand between her and the gun, huh? It's a good thing at least one of us wasn't too preoccupied to care about her safety."

With a snide look, he stared Clark right in the eye and waited for him to react. It was almost too easy to push his buttons.

As Lex finished his taunt, Clark grabbed the other man's shirt shirt so he pulled him out of his chair. "You think this is all a game?!" Clark demanded. "First you've practically driven Lana mad... the girl you said that you loved and would spend your life with and now what... you think she's some common little tramp?!" Clark had to fight the urge to drive his fist into Lex's face, knowing it would be deadly to the Luthor. "You're incapable of love, Lex. It's supposed to be eternal... not some random convenience! When it doesn't work the way you want it... you don't just throw it away."

Clark shook his head. "And if you think I'm going to just stand here and let you do the same thing to Chloe... think again, Lex," said Clark. "You may think that you're invincible, but trust me... if there's anyone that can stop you... really stop you... it's me." Clark left the cryptic threat... the cryptic promise hand in the air between them as he glared into Lex's eyes.

All of a sudden, Chloe found that she was being put in the middle of the dispute between Lex and Clark. She didn't know what to say. She wished the subject had brought in a more civilized manner, so she could tell Clark that Lex was right. Lex had protected her. Not that Clark would believe it.

"Clark!" she cried, trying to get his attention. She knew what he was capable of; in a snap of fingers, he could kill Lex where he stood if he wanted to. Jumping to her feet, Chloe took a hold of Clark's shoulder. "Clark, stop..."

She then reached to the hand gripping Lex's collar and looked Clark in the eye. "Look at me... He's not lying. Lana was out of control... He..." She gave a quick glance at Lex, then looked back at Clark. "He protected me." Ignoring the fact that the argument had drawn everyone's attention, Chloe kept looking at Clark, a plea in her eyes.

"Please stop..."

But even as Chloe confirmed Lex's story, that he had protected her, Clark continued to hold his adversary firmly in place. Clark didn't want to believe what he was hearing, and he could hardly believe that Chloe was standing up for the man in front of him. She knew the type of person he was... how manipulative he could be. Who was to say that he hadn't drafted this entire scenario and they were all playing into the palm of his hand? Clark sighted and shook his head, finally releasing Lex – but only because Chloe had asked him to. He paid no attention to the people that were looking on at the little display of drama.

"You can't keep this act up forever, Lex," he snarled. "Sooner or later... you're going to slip." Then he took a deep breath and shook his head. "And whatever you did to Lana... I'm not going to stand by and watch you do it to Chloe too. Do yourself a favor and back off." After throwing down the gauntlet, Clark turned and looked at the woman by his side. Part of him didn't know what to say, certainly not here, in front of Lex. The sound of the muffled alarm of Lex's car was still ringing loudly in the distance, which gave him a certain measure of satisfaction, at least.

Irritated by Clark's heavy-handed behavior (though he should have thought he'd be used to it by this point), Lex took a step back and calmly straightened his clothing. Speaking in a level, even bored, voice he drawled softly enough that the surrounding tables couldn't hear, "You know, Clark, you can make me out to be the bad guy all you want. It's certainly worked for you for years now. But eventually you're going to have to wake up and see that my wife isn't the woman that you imagine her to be."

He intentionally stressed Lana's status as a Luthor, knowing it would cause the other man pain. Of course, Clark was ignoring him, but he knew that the other man heard every word he was saying. "She's a woman who didn't wait ten minutes after things stopped working with you to turn to me. Which was, I suppose up to that point, something of her modus operandi. How long did it take her to come around your door after she broke up with Whitney? Or Jason? I didn't make her have the morals of an alley cat; she did that all on her own, and whether or not you choose to see it, she's been this way far longer than I've ever been in the picture.

"You can believe whatever you want, and I frankly couldn't care less what that is. I long ago stopped grieving over the loss of your friendship. But some day, you're going to have to look at Lana and see her for exactly who she is. The woman who chose to be with me. I didn't force her to accept my marriage proposal; she did that all on her own. I didn't force her to become pregnant either."

Lex couldn't help but gloat a little as he ruthlessly twisted the knife. "The picture of Lana you have in your head is an illusion. It always has been. She chose to marry me, and she chose - _she chose_ - to abort our child. I suspect she did it as soon as she got the first hint that maybe she might be able to make it work with you."

Clark still didn't visibly react, so Lex added maliciously, "She's faithless, inconstant, and capricious in her affections. And whether you like it or not, I did - and do - actually love her. I didn't drive her to anything. I gave her everything she ever asked for that was within my power to give, and I protected her as much as I could from the self-destructive side of her true nature."

Grabbing some money out of his pocket, he threw down enough to cover the tab, the tip, and a little extra for the inconvenience. As he did so, he said, "And, in case you're curious, I would still do all of those things today if she came back to me. But she made it clear she doesn't want to be with me any longer. And I could continue to chase after her and try to make her want me again...except then I suppose you'd accuse me of trying to manipulate her."

Looking back at Clark, Lex was pleased to see the tightening in the other man's jaw as he said, "I recognize my wife for all that she is. Beautiful. Charming. Enchanting even. Clever. Capricious. Faithless. Unstable. I know what she is, and I care about her. Enough, in fact, to want to make her happy. Even if that means not being with me. The difference between you and me, though, Clark, is that you've always felt if you just kept pushing, you can get what you want. 'Hold on; don't let go! Maybe she'll come around!' Once she does, you don't give her the type of relationship she wants - the type of devotion she needs in order to be happy - and you break her heart again, and again, and again. It's a vicious cycle - you draw her in and then you push her away and break her heart. And yet you accuse me of being the manipulative one.

"Not that you'll ever believe me, and not that I care whether you do or don't, but I did love Lana. I still love Lana. I may always love Lana. And because I do, I recognize that everything she's doing now is her choice. Nobody forced her into it. Nobody twisted her arm. It was her choice to turn to me when you cast her aside. It was her choice to join me in my bed. It was her choice to be with me, to marry me, and to leave me. And, ultimately, it was her choice to try to kill me this morning to run from her own mistakes."

Chloe was still standing between Lex and Clark, but she wished she could just disappear. She probably should have left them, let them fight about who loved Lana Lang the most. This was starting to make her sick. She had grown used to hear Clark proclaim his love for Lana at every opportunity, and it had hurt her for so many years. There were times when she thought she was only barely recovered from it. Even now, despite the fact her feelings had changed and grown into nothing more than really strong friendship, it sometimes still upset her to hear Clark depict Lana as the perfect woman.

And now, hearing Lex doing the same was... upsetting? Chloe wasn't hurt like she had been by Clark so many times, but she clearly couldn't say she was indifferent to his words. She felt rather silly for such a reaction, too. It only had been two days that they had really started to get to know each other again, and after spending only a half a day with him – laughing and pretending they hadn't any problems in the world – she had almost let herself feel as if Lex was letting Lana go. But, again, why would it matter to Chloe? Why was she reacting to his words when she should be nothing more than annoyed? At best, if she was going to be upset at his behavior, it should be because he was speaking to Clark like he was. Not because of the words he was saying.

Instead, every statement Lex was directing to Clark seemed to just make her feel more like a fool to have even thought that Lex might have had been interested in... No, of course he wasn't. Lana was the girl next door. The girl all men were crazy about. Chloe was just the girl men liked to hang out with. Rely on. Turn to when they needed someone to listen to whatever their latest problem was with Lana. She was just the second choice that nobody wanted to take because they would rather wait for their first one.

Heedless of his companion's internal struggle, Lex continued to spit out his words, hoping they would hurt Clark and – at least for the moment – either unaware or uncaring of how they hurt Chloe, as well. "Lana's a big girl, Clark. Something you've never seen fit to recognize. A woman capable of making her own choices and her own mistakes. And some day, you're going to have to realize who she really is, because I don't have the power to protect her from herself any longer. I just hope for your sake, you wake up and realize exactly who she is before she kills someone you do actually care about."

Disgusted by the situation and the face of the man before him, Lex took a step back. His gaze turned from Clark to Chloe, and he had to stifle a sigh. Well, the day certainly wasn't turning out the way he'd hoped it would. One thing was for sure; it was shot to hell now. Lex had enough experience with Chloe and Clark to know that there was no way she would defy Clark's wishes so much to stick around now that she'd been caught red-handed in his presence. As much as Lex wanted to push the issue, he didn't think Chloe would take it well if he did so. She wasn't the type of woman who enjoyed being fought over.

Of course, Clark would see that it was Chloe's choice to be with Lex today no more than he would ever be likely to recognize that everything Lana had done had been her choice, as well.

Ignoring his former best friend as being unworthy of his attention, Lex turned to his date. "Chloe, I apologize for this entire humiliating scene. After this morning, I was hoping to make things up to you, and I'm afraid I haven't been successful thus far." He should walk away and leave her and Clark together, but on the other hand...

Well, why not? he asked himself. Chloe was just as capable of making her own decisions as Lana was, whether or not Clark chose to see that for himself. And if he had the chance to make Clark seem irrational and selfishly possessive by comparison, it was definitely worth the gamble.

With his most charming smile, he continued to ignore the outside world as he said, "I don't want to make things more difficult for you, so here's what I'm going to do. I have some phone calls to make that'll take me...oh...ten minutes to wrap up. I'm going to go back to the car to do so... and to give you an opportunity to speak with Clark privately. If you decide you still want to go to dinner with me, I hope you join me at the car." Chloe couldn't help it. At the mention of the dinner date they'd planned, her eyes flew to Clark. There was no way he was going to take this news well.

Lex seemed unperturbed by her reaction, because he continued, "If you decide to decline my invitation after all, I understand. But on the off chance I don't get to say this to you later... Chloe, it was a pleasure spending the day with you, and I appreciate everything you've done today. But... if you do leave with Clark... be careful around Lana. I know you think you've seen the worst of what she's capable of, but I'm afraid that may be just the tip of the iceberg. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not telling you to stay away from her, only... please be careful." He was about to turn away, when he remembered the bandage on his arm, currently covered by the long sleeves to his shirt. Wanting Chloe to be reminded of Lana's "attack" the night before, Lex reached forward with his injured arm and grabbed her hand. When he brought it to his lips to lay a kiss on the back of it, the sleeve to his shirt fell back a bit, exposing about an inch of white gauze.

Releasing her hand, Lex turned and walked back to the car, hoping his gamble would pay off. Once returned to the vehicle, he noticed its condition. "What the hell...?" With a sigh, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. It appeared there really were phone calls to be made.

Chloe groaned inwardly as Lex walked away, knowing he'd just made everything worse – which she hadn't thought possible. It didn't help that, just when she thought he would leave and forget about her, he did the opposite and, in doing so, put her in an even more awkward situation. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to ditch Lex, but she didn't want to ditch Clark either. At least not as things stood between them.

Her eyes dropping, she tried to think of something to say to ease the tension between them. But even a she scrambled for a way to diffuse the situation, she couldn't help but mull over the problem with Lana. Lex had advised her to be careful around the woman she would call a friend, but Clark didn't seem to believe that Lana was a threat, at least if his attitude was any indication. So perhaps she hadn't acted as unstable around him. It didn't help Chloe's cause, certainly, but she was at least glad that Lana seemed to be doing better. Still, she wasn't going to forget Lex's advice, and she couldn't say she didn't appreciate that he'd been concerned enough about her to give it.

Unconsciously, Chloe rubbed the spot where Lex had kissed on her hand. Inwardly, she hated herself for not being completely indifferent to him. That she had any reaction to his touch was wrong, as well as being totally absurd. But still, she couldn't help it, and she truly hoped it didn't show. It couldn't show. Certainly not in front of Clark.

Pushing thoughts of Lex out of her mind, Chloe took a deep breath, still not looking at Clark. She needed to be mentally prepared, but she didn't know what approach to take. Finally, she raised her head and met her friend's eyes once more.

"Clark... what was that all about?"

He didn't respond right away, too preoccupied with his own thoughts to answer her question. He was infuriated that Lex had kissed Chloe's hand – or any part of her – and he'd had to turn away at the sight. It sickend him. Disgusted him. But what was even more painful was the fact that Chloe couldn't see past this…façade of Lex's. Was Lana right? Had Lex already worked his magic and pulled the proverbial wool over Chloe's eyes?

It had been hard enough to simply stand there in silence and listen to Lex twist and distort the truth to suit his own wicked purposes. In all honesty, he wasn't totally sure he would have been able to control himself had Chloe not been there. Of course, he was equally certain that had Chloe not been there, Lex wouldn't have tried so hard too goad him as he was doing. He couldn't bear the thought that Chloe could be buying Lex's pack of lies.

When Clark finally responded to Chloe's question, it was in anger. "I think I could ask the same question," he spat. The words left his mouth before he could stop them. "Chloe... this is Lex, remember? What happened to being careful? You know better than anyone how selfish Lex can be, and how dangerous he can be because of it." Clark took a deep breath and shook his head. "I don't want to see you hurt. And I'm not going to let Lex do to you what he did to Lana."

At her name, he took a deep breath. Lana. A part of him started to question if he should even tell Chloe where he had Lana hidden. Of course, how could he doubt his best friend like that? Lana was her friend as well. The two of them had agreed to help her... to save her from Lex. However, that plan that had been mapped in black and white earlier seemed to be smothered in gray. Nothing was clear anymore as it had once been.

Chloe frowned at Clark's words. "It's nothing, okay?" In part, she could understand his anger, but it still bristled. Lately, he had been so reactive, jumping the gun to respond to situations before taking the time to find out all the facts first. Frankly, Chloe was getting a little irritated by it. Why did she have to be there everyday, the one with the task of calming him down when he got upset over something Lana or Lex had done?

She took a deep breath, annoyed, but she tried to keep her voice calm as she asked, "Don't you trust me? Can't you have faith in my judgment? Look, I did look into Lana's problem.... In the end, I didn't find anything to incriminate Lex. I'm sorry Clark, but I think for once, Lex isn't the one to blame. And he's surely not the one who pointed a gun at me this morning!"

While she wanted to be diplomatic, she couldn't help but chuckle in a sarcastic way. "You think I'm going to act like Lana. Right… I'm sorry, but I'm not like her. I'm not playing ping-pong with your feelings. Whitney, Clark, Adam, Clark, Jason, Clark, Lex, Clark… See a pattern here?" She paused and shook her head. "Do you know how hard it was for me for all those years, to see you crawl at her feet every damn time she came back to you? Geez Clark, I've been patient for so long… I always hoped that…" She stopped, her eyes stinging with tears she wouldn't shed. Somehow, everything was getting blown out of proportion, and she was feeling the old, familiar sting of the broken heart that had always been hers alone to bear. It was probably because of all her talks with Lex about the past she'd shared with Clark and Lana. It had made her think a lot about her relationship with them – mostly her relationship with Clark. What he had meant to her. What he meant now. "Nevermind. I… Clearly, I was wrong."

Chloe took a deep breath and glanced in Lex's direction. She could barely see him from where she stood. After a moment, she looked back at Clark and cleared her throat. "You wanted Lana? Well you have her now. You should enjoy it. I didn't find anything against Lex and frankly, I don't see any reason to dig into it any further. Now, unless you have a new clue or some more information to give me, I'm going to go join Lex."

Brushing past Clark, she walked a few steps away, trying to hide her anger and hurt. She hadn't told him everything that was on her mind, but that was probably best. Before she could be swayed by her better judgment, however, she paused and shot back at him over her shoulder, "You want to know what's caused me to change my mind about Lex? Well... I saw the way he was hurt by Lana – the same look you've given me many times before. But he doesn't mourn over her in my presence." At least not always, she recognized as she paused. Then she continued, "He makes me feel like…like I'm important… regardless of the great Lana Lang."

Not waiting to hear his reply, Chloe walked past the approaching waiter, muttering an apology to him as she passed, and made her way towards Lex. She still wasn't in the best mood. In fact, at the moment, she wished she'd stayed in her apartment alone for the day, but she knew that wasn't necessarily the best solution. Still, she couldn't help think she had probably ruined her relationship with Clark. And for what? She didn't even know herself.

Maybe Lex was getting to her. Maybe he was manipulating her. She felt confused more and more. Despite everything, though, she was determined more than ever to go to dinner with him. If Lex was playing her, she'd try to find out. And if Clark really cared about Chloe, he'd come around. She hoped. As for Lana, well… Lana was something else. Chloe's old feelings about Lana seemed to be emerging again.

Chloe finally found Lex standing next to his car…or what used to be his car. Clark, she mentally groaned with a sigh. "I'm sorry about you car."

Behind her, Clark didn't say a word. In truth, he didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. And by doing that, he watched his best friend turn her back on him and leave. Leave him... for Lex. Clark couldn't believe it. He didn't want to, but all the signs were right there. Lana had been right. Lex had tricked Chloe... he had taken Clark's best friend away from him. First, it was the girl he loved... and now his best friend. The person that he had thought he could share everything with. He swallowed as his friend seemed to disappear from sight. Then he looked over at the table where Lex and Chloe had been sitting and picked up the mug that had been placed in front of her seat.

Perhaps she was being drugged. Clark lifted it to his nose, but after taking a whiff, he detected nothing out of the ordinary. Had Lex simply sweet-talked Chloe into believing his words? Clark didn't realize it, but grip on the mug tightened until finally it shattered right in his hand. A woman quickly came over to Clark, her towel already in her hand. "Oh my God! Sir, are you all right?" she asked. She looked over her shoulder. "Meg! Get a wet towel. Here, let me see your hand." She seized Clark's hand and began to wipe at it immediately. However, after dabbing at it, her eyes looked up to meet Clark's. She seemed stunned.

"That... that coffee was a fresh brew," she said. "It was hot... I just poured...." she began.

Sensing what she was getting at, Clark quickly withdrew his hand. "I'm fine," he insisted. "Really, there's no need to be concerned."

He made his way out of the seating area of the coffee shop, the girls right on his heels. However, once they rounded the same corner as Clark, he was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared in a blur.

__________________


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: On the Road

* * *

Lex was surprised when Chloe joined him at the car. Frankly, he'd expected her to go off with Clark. Not just because he knew Chloe and Clark were friends, but also because...well, that was pretty much par for the course, wasn't it? Oh, but of course it usually took a little while - like a teenager staging a rebellion. Lana had certainly seemed happy to run off with Lex for a little while, throwing her act of rebellion in Clark's face as it suited her.

He smiled wryly as the memory came to mind. Ah, yes. Of course. He was the act of rebellion, as it were. Chloe was probably doing as Lana did - running off with him to show Clark that she could. But, in the end, he shouldn't fool himself into thinking it would last. Which was fine. He didn't really want it to...so why did the thought make him sad?

Shaking his head slightly, he tore his gaze away from her and glanced at the car. In a rueful voice, he said, "Well, I suppose it's just part of living in Smallville. The cars just get inexplicably damaged every so often."

Chloe's smile in response wasn't quite the same as the other smiles she'd thrown Lex all day. Of course, Clark was on her mind. She felt bad for ditching him, but at the same time, it was unfair for Clark to make her feel like she had to choose between them. Once upon a time – for a long time, really – it would have been an easy decision. But now, things weren't so clear.

"Yeah, I guess they do," Chloe replied, knowing perfectly well that Clark wouldn't have balked at destroying the car - or the man - if he had really wanted to. What was wrong with Clark? Couldn't he control himself a little? Lately, he'd been at the far ends of the emotional spectrum, either mad or depressed. Did he even know what it meant to be happy? Didn't he know that his mood affected people around him? Maybe that was part of why she had decided to tag along with Lex; he was making her feel happy. They were able to have conversations that didn't revolve entirely around Lana or the nature of humanity itself. It was something that she hadn't been able to do in a long time.

Lest she think the two of them were stranded indefinitely, Lex reassured her, "Not to worry, though... I called my staff and someone's driving a new car out here as we speak." He'd have called to just buy a new car and have it delivered, but that would have taken longer. Smallville wasn't known for its high end automobile shops. "With the bonus I promised him to deliver it within ten minutes, I have every hope he won't disappoint. And we only have..." he paused and glanced at his watch, "three minutes left on the...ah, here he is."

Just as he was talking, the purr of an engine could be heard and a member of Lex's staff pulled up alongside them in a sleek black testament to fine Italian craftsmanship. Jumping out, the employee grinned and handed over the keys as Lex walked around the car to hold the door for Chloe.

After a moment, Chloe shook her head and forced herself to relax. Enough with the guilt. For once in a very long while, she wanted to be selfish a little. Was it too much to ask? She nodded as a sign of thanks as she lowered herself into the passenger seat of the brand new car.

Lex took a moment to exchange a few words with his employee, and then he jogged back around the car to the driver's side. As he hopped behind the wheel, he looked over at his 'date.' "Well, well, Cinderella. I say we get back to our day and ignore this unfortunate interruption, what about you?"

"I say it's a pretty good idea..." she replied, hoping she would indeed be able to put that behind her. "But for the record, I'm sorry. Well, I'm sorry Clark came by and that it kind of ended our conversation. He's had it kinda rough lately."

Lex almost chuckled when he heard Chloe say that Clark had been having a rough time lately. Oh, yeah. It was undoubtedly killing Clark; it probably was difficult to steal another man's wife. Lex swallowed his inappropriate humor, however. He also swallowed the caustic response that came immediately to mind, that Clark was a big boy and that it wasn't – or shouldn't have been – Chloe's job to apologize for him. But in the end, it would only spoil the mood and it wasn't like Lex was holding his breath for any sort of apology, anyway.

Turning over the engine, Lex nodded in recognition of her words as he threw the car into gear and prepared to drive away. As he did so, he found his gaze searching the street for Clark. He couldn't help it. Clark was just so well-cast as the overmatched prince eager to face down the fire breathing dragon to whisk the damsel in distress away. Except Lex packed more than mere fire, and Chloe didn't strike him as much of a damsel in distress type.

She was, however, something else entirely. The more time Lex spent with her, the more he understood why Clark - or anyone, for that matter - would want to steal her away. There was just something about Chloe, something he seemed to have allowed himself to forget in the years that had passed since they'd had reason to spend so much time together and he'd gotten to know about the woman beside him. After she'd shut him down and distanced herself from him, he'd forced himself to put her out of his mind and told himself it was all for the best and that she wasn't all that special anyway. But being with her now, he remembered how he'd found her enchanting, even then. He didn't know what it was about her - her smile, the crinkle in her nose when she laughed, or the way she had a way of looking at a man like he was the only man in the world...He'd forgotten what it was like to be with Chloe.

Which was probably a shame, because if he'd remembered (a tiny traitorous voice whispered in the back of his mind), if he'd carried the memory of Chloe Sullivan with him after she'd shut him out in favor of Clark, he probably would have wondered what any man would see in Lana Lang. Why would any sane man choose a fickle damsel in distress when he could have a princess cleverly hidden in plain sight? _Cinderella..._the voice spoke again, pointing out that it had been an apt name for her, even though it had been thoughtlessly chosen and even more carelessly spoken. She was Cinderella, hidden amongst the ashes, cast aside and forgotten by those who had never really deserved her anyway.

Though she probably wouldn't have had anything to do with him, either way, so it was a moot point. She'd turned away from him after their brief adventure together, after all. So even if things had worked out differently, even if Lex hadn't lost sight of her, things would have worked out more or less the same in the end. He and Clark would have ended up hating each other anyway, people would have chosen sides, and Lex would have been left alone.

_You don't know that,_ the voice reminded him pragmatically.

Lex scowled at that little voice and tried to smother it out of existence. He just couldn't let himself that this decision to spend her time with him would undoubtedly be short-lived. In the end, she'd go back to Clark as they all did. And this time, he'd be damned if he let any woman break his heart.

Even a woman like Chloe Sullivan.

He couldn't let himself forget that, at the end of the story, the princess always ran away with the prince, ineffectual and undeserving as he might be. She never chose to remain with the dragon.

While Lex was lost in his thoughts, Chloe's mind was also somewhere else. Looking at him, she couldn't help but think that, while he wasn't perfect, there had to be some good left in him. She had seen it in the past. She had seen it last night, and she had felt it all day. So either he was a really good actor, or he was the man she thought he could become - at least that she'd hoped he could be. She tried to be careful, but could feel herself slowly fall under the charm of Lex Luthor.

She was doing her best to rationalize any compliments and every intense look he gave her because she simply couldn't afford to fall in love the way she had with Clark Kent. It hurt too much to be caught in a one-sided love affair. And she couldn't forget that she had already been fooled by Lex's charm once.

There had been a time when he had made her feel like a woman – when he had treated her like an equal and respected her opinion, even though she'd only been a 16 years old teenager at the time. For a brief moment, she had even thought maybe he would be the one to help her forget Clark – or her unrequited love for him, at least. Worse, she had thought at one point that it seemed that maybe he had been attracted to... But no. Of course not. She had soon realized that his attention was directed to nobody else but the town sweetheart, Lana Lang. And after the speech he had just given Clark, she knew she really couldn't expect for anything to have changed.

"So, anyway," she began, clearing her throat, "where are we going?"

"Well, I was thinking we might head to the city, get the long drive out of the way. Plus, if we're going to kill time, there are certainly more things to do there than there are here," he answered.

Chloe wasn't in the mood to do much of anything at the moment, but hopefully the drive would do her mood some good. "Sure, let's go to Metropolis." Far from Smallville and from Clark, she thought, unaware that he had left Lana at Oliver's apartment. She couldn't help but notice that Lex was making an effort to pretend nothing happened. It couldn't have been easy, considering the scene he'd left behind him and the fact that he undoubtedly was still angry over the confrontation.

Chloe didn't realize she'd been staring at the man at her side, watching him drive, her gaze trailing from his face to his hands where they rested on the wheel. She loved his hands. So strong, yet so soft. Her eyes rose once more to his jaw, which was still slightly clenched in irritation, to his face. There was something about him, something which she'd always recognized existed within him, even when the two of them had been working on opposite sides. Something so... attractive. Something that even anger couldn't distort. Something so powerful...

Apparently ignorant of her regard, Lex offered, "If you'd like, we could take in a show, or we could do some shopping." Women seemed to love shopping. Lex had long ago learned it wasn't worth the effort to try to figure out why. "Unless there's something else you'd prefer to do, Cinderella?" he asked teasingly.

"Hmm? Oh huh..." Chloe was broken out of her reverie, at which point she realized how blatantly she'd been staring at him. How embarrassing. "Knowing the type of restaurants you frequent, I'll probably need to find something to wear. Something a little more formal," she said with a glance down at her outfit. She felt rather underdressed compared to him. But then again, it wasn't fair game since he always wore high-end suits.

"Otherwise, no shopping, even though it'd probably be rather amusing to see you try to act nonchalant in a lingerie store." At the thought, she couldn't help but smile a little.

Lex almost crashed the damn car when she mentioned lingerie. Unbidden, the image of her in a lacy negligee came to mind, her hair tousled from... The car swerved a little to the left before he was able to correct it.

"Ah...rabbit…in the road…" he managed to croak, his mouth dry. Had she said anything after "lingerie"? Damn it. Trying to gather his wayward thoughts (_white or black,_ the vicious voice pondered in his mind), he finally latched on to the vague notion that she'd insinuated that her clothing wasn't up to par.

"Trust me, you don't have to worry about how you look, Chloe..." Her long legs slipped into kitten heels as she stood in front of...oh, holy hell. He shifted uncomfortably. "You look fine." Was that his voice, that pathetic strangled sound? Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Not that anyone would dare insinuate otherwise at the restaurant." The paparazzi certainly would though, and he wanted to spare her the embarrassment. "But if you'd like, I'm sure we can find you something..." White. Lacy. Sheer. Tiny. Leaving nothing to the imagination. With spaghetti straps easily slipped off her pale shou..."Damn it," he muttered to himself as he pressed his foot harder on the gas. He had to get this thought out of his head. Was he that frustrated, that he had to be having completely inappropriate fantasies about the woman beside him?

"Thanks..." Chloe said, slightly frowning at Lex, wondering if he was okay or if he was still distracted from the confrontation with Clark. When he'd caused the car to swerve, she'd been surprised; she hadn't noticed a rabbit, though she hadn't really been looking for one, either. And although he had replied to her comment, he seemed distracted, as if his thoughts were on the road. Or on something else.

Chloe turned to look out the front windshield and shifted to make herself more comfortable. "You know, I think I may have the perfect dress for tonight. Let's make a quick stop at my apartment." Lex nodded and turned the wheel, executing a perfect three-point turn so he could head back to the Talon.

Maybe he should have requested a convertible, he mused as he drove. The wind blowing through Chloe's hair would probably give it that look like she'd just woken up in bed and...

_Get a hold of yourself, Lex,_ he growled silently to himself, speeding even faster. Clearly, if he didn't get out of this car soon, he'd go stark raving mad.

After a moment, Lex pulled up in front of the Talon and let the engine idle as he leaned forward to look up at the darkened apartment windows. "So, should I wait the obligatory hour for you to get changed?" he teased.

"No, shouldn't take more than 15 minutes," Chloe replied as she opened the door of the car. Before stepping out, she threw a smirk over her shoulder at him. "Otherwise, I would probably be too much for you and you wouldn't be able to handle me." Her smirk remained on her lips until she closed the door, and then turned around and headed towards the Talon. Truth was, she was trying to keep in mind that it wasn't a date, but only two fri... two collaborators going for dinner. And she couldn't take the chance that she'd make herself all pretty for a man that only had eyes for another woman.

Outside, Lex rested his head on the headrest and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. As he waited, he tried very hard not to imagine what was going on a floor above. He didn't know what was wrong with him; he wasn't usually so easily distracted. He shouldn't have gone off the deep end, just because she said the word lingerie. Hell, he shouldn't be spending a good portion of his time picturing Chloe slowly pulling off her clothes just a few... "Damn it," he muttered as he shifted in his seat. This was Chloe he was thinking about. Chloe. Chloe Sullivan. The sometimes bane of his existence. The one woman in the world who had never looked twice at him. Maybe that was part of the appeal; the lust for the unattainable. Still, if that was all he was after, he should probably aim for a slightly more attainable "unattainable" goal. Like buying out Microsoft. Because there was no way that fantasizing about Chloe giving him anything more than the time of day was going to get him anywhere.

Still...he supposed there was no real harm in imagining, and it wasn't like he had anything better to do. So that's what he did. He imagined.

Chloe didn't take much time to find the dress she was looking for; she had few cocktail dresses and even fewer occasions to wear them. After changing, she grabbed the purse that matched the dress, but before exiting the apartment, she caught a glance of herself in a mirror and hesitated. Damn it! She put her purse on the counter and went into the bathroom to put on some eyeliner, mascara, and light peachy lipstick. Then she grabbed a brush and rearranged her hair. Chloe wanted to look good, to be sexy. That fact in itself wasn't an issue, since it was typical of most women who wanted to charm a man, but the man in question was Lex. Lex Luthor. Of all men. The last man on earth she should want to charm. Biting her lower lip, she agreed, looking in the mirror, that she was ready. She didn't want to do too much, just the minimal necessary.

With a deep breath, she stared into mirror and chased away any thoughts regarding Clark or Lana, for as long as it would work. Then she put on a long white coat, hiding her dress. She knew they would be back later that day and at that time of the year, it would probably be cold later. Finally, Chloe locked her apartment and went downstairs, making her way outside and back to the car. "See? 15 minutes. I'm a woman of my word," she said. There was a slight catch in her breathing, as if she had run back to the car, when in reality, it was because she was getting a little nervous. "Shall we go?"

"Certainly," he said cheerfully as he threw the car back into gear. Watching her out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but wonder what she was wearing beneath the white coat. To take his mind off that potentially dangerous question, he focused on something else instead. If he wasn't mistaken, Chloe had put on makeup. She looked lovely, without a doubt. But she'd taken the time to put on makeup before going out with him. Was that for her benefit, or was it just a little feminine vanity on her part? Probably the latter, but still...it was nice to pretend otherwise for a while.

"Perfect." Chloe said as Lex started to drive towards Metropolis. "So where did you say you were taking me?"

He glanced over at her with a smirk. "Oh, no you don't. I think I'll keep some secrets, if you don't mind."

"More secrets, huh?" she teased, though her words could have been taken on another level. She just hoped her comment wasn't going to be perceived as an attack. Tonight, she wanted to put aside their rivalry. When she heard his soft chuckle, she was happy to realize that he hadn't taken offense.

After a couple of minutes, Chloe started to feel rather warm in the car and so, knowing they had a long drive, she decided to take off her coat. When she threw it into the backseat, Lex could see what she had described as "perfect" for the evening. Chloe was wearing a black satin cocktail dress that caressed her curves like a second skin, and she had slipped matching black high heels that emphasized the length of her legs.

Lex caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye and swallowed heavily, though he kept his eyes glued on the road and refrained from looking over at her – at least for the moment. However, what he could see from the corner of his eye was enough to cause him to exert more pressure on the gas pedal in reflex as his hands clenched tightly on the wheel.

Chloe felt the increase in the car's velocity and glanced at the speedometer. "You know you're past the speed limit, right?" When her words elicited no response, she paused and reached for her companion, placing her hand on Lex's shoulder. "Erm… are you ok Lex? You look a little pale..."


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: On the Road (2)

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"I'm fine," Lex managed to croak in a semblance of his normal voice, still keeping his eyes fixed on the road.

Chloe slowly retracted her hand from Lex's shoulder, but her eyes remained on him. He usually always had something to reply that was more intelligible than two-monosyllabic-word reply. Even if it was a lie, he usually managed to look composed. "Ok... If you say so," she said.

At the sound of her dubious reply, Lex made the mistake of glancing over at her. As soon as he caught sight of her outfit, Lex didn't know if his brain was racing a million miles per hour or if it had frozen completely. HOLY GOD! It wasn't a dress she was wearing! It was a...a...a...a napkin! Okay, it was considerably larger than a napkin, but his brain was working wonders in ignoring that fact. And she'd just HAD to say the word pale, didn't she? Was she trying to torture him? Saying the word pale and then showing so much of her skin that could be described with just that word...

He had to take a moment to swallow heavily. Had it just gotten considerably hotter in the car, or was it just him?

Actually, there was a tiny rational part of his brain that noted that Chloe was right to comment that he was acting odd. On top of his unnatural taciturnity, he noticed of the car went any faster, it would launch into orbit. Forcing himself to lessen the pressure on the gas pedal, Lex clenched his teeth...hard. Anything to distract himself.

Reaching forward, he flipped the air conditioning on high. There was no way that it was just him that was this hot; the entire situation needed a cooldown.

"So… I thought we'd...uh..." They could go dress shopping. Except what if she got something more revealing than what she currently had on? (Was it even possible?)

Tightening his grip on the wheel, Lex tried to give himself a much-needed mental wake-up call. He needed to get a hold of himself! He'd seen a thousand women in dresses far more revealing than Chloe's, and he'd never got tongue tied or distracted. So why the hell was he acting like a randy fifteen year old boy all of a sudden?

"Well, there are a number of sights in Metropolis that you've probably never seen." _There are one or two in the car with you right now, Lex, that you've never seen and you'd sure as hell like to. _GAH! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!! Lex started to speed again.

"M-museums and... things," he added lamely.

"Museums sound good." In fact, Chloe didn't really care where they were going. She enjoyed her time with Lex, wherever they were. She had been ignoring this pleasure of talking to him in the past 2 years, because they had chosen different paths. Because he had ignored her. There had been a time when she used to anticipate their verbal judo, and she was glad that they had a chance to do that again. It had always made her feel special, somehow, knowing that she could challenge him. On many levels. That she could make him smile. That she could see respect in his eyes when he looked at her.

For his part, Lex wasn't spending his time with such innocent musings. Instead, he was mentally kicking himself for having chosen a restaurant so far away. Metropolis had clearly been a bad idea. He doubted that he'd get there in one piece at this rate. To distract himself, he spent the next few minutes silently counting the number ways he'd be going to hell if he hit on Chloe and trying to remind himself that, as black as his soul was, it still wasn't a good idea to take that particular leap.

She was younger than him. _She's legal_, the irritating voice whispered.

She didn't like him very much. _She seems to like you just fine right now_.

He didn't like her very much. _Keep telling yourself that...and then explain why, if that's true, you're even bothering to have this conversation._

He was heartbroken. _Again, if that's true, why are we even bothering to have this conversation? Because you're not just picturing a quick roll in the hay here, Lex - a one time fling to get your troubles off your mind. You're starting to picture a whole lot more. Starting with a weekend spent entirely in a very large bed._

Uh...he was...he was...SHE was still hung up on Clark! _Which is why she's in the car with you._

Well, okay, so she was with him now. But she'd still leave him to go back to Clark in the end. ... The voice was silent; it had no immediate response to that.

HA! I've thwarted you, he thought proudly as he outwitted...ahem...himself, apparently.

_But think of everything the two of you could do until she left. You never know. It might be worth it._

Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!

"Lex! Careful!" Chloe cried.

Just as he was chastising himself (not at all concerned about the fact that he was conducting a full-scale argument with a pesky voice in his own mind, either), a deer jumped into the road directly in front of his car – a deer that was quite real, as opposed to the imaginary bunny he'd claimed to have seen in the road before. Slamming on his breaks, Lex cut the wheel with one hand and instinctually threw the other across Chloe's torso, holding her back (though she was wearing a seatbelt) so that she didn't crack her head on the dashboard.

Once the car had stopped by the side of the road and the deer had pranced away in blissful ignorance of how close it had come to becoming a semi-permanent addition to his fine Italian car, Lex breathed a heavy – and intensely grateful – sigh. And then he realized that his hand was resting on skin. Bare skin. Bare skin that didn't feel like arm. Throwing an alarmed look Chloe's way, he realized that his hand was placed rather firmly on a portion of Chloe's anatomy that had been so occupying his mind mere moments before.

Biting back a yelp (_Thank you. That would have been incredibly undignified_), Lex let his hand drop off her thigh. Which was when he realized it had fallen on yet another expanse of smooth skin he'd been so preoccupied with, as his hand had fallen upon her thigh.

_Game. Set. Match_, his little voice told him with an evil cackle.

Chloe looked at his hand then back at him, remaining silent. She wasn't really sure how to react. Part of her wanted to remind him that his hand was on her thigh and toss it aside, while another part of her wished his hand would just pursue its course under the hem of her dress.

That thought caused her to blush. And having his hand resting on her thigh only made her blush more, though it wasn't only blushing. Having him there, next to her, touching her, even if somehow unintentional - though she wondered how unintentional it was - it sent electricity through her body. She wanted him and it was getting hard for her to deny it. But he was her friend's husband. Even if Lana had left him, he had made it clear earlier that he still had feelings for his soon-to-be ex-wife. Damn! It wasn't fair that Lana was the one who got Clark and Lex's attention.

It took a little longer than it should have to snatch his hand away, and then he rested both hands on the wheel (that seemed safe enough) and sucked in a heavy sigh. "You are so going to hell, Luthor. And not just any hell. A special hell, reserved for men who hit on their ex-wife's younger best friends who hate you," he muttered quietly to himself before lifting his head to look at his passenger.

Forcing his voice to remain even, Lex said calmly, "Well, since I've managed to avoid killing Bambi, I think we should keep going. Unless you need a moment?" One thing was for certain. He wanted to get to Metropolis. Immediately, if not sooner. Because the longer he was in the car with Chloe, the more he remembered that he wasn't a nice man...and the more that part of him wished he were.

"No, I'm fine. Let's go." Obviously, being enclosed in a close space with Lex wasn't a good idea at the moment; Chloe wasn't entirely sure she could trust herself with him there. "Mind if I open the window and… Erhm... It's… well… with the sun…it's getting hot… I mean warm..." Chloe opened the window a little to get fresh air and try to cool off.

What a fabulous idea. Fresh air was a good thing in Lex's book. Rolling down his own window, he took a few deep breaths and drove in silence for a while. Even uncomfortable silence was better than acting the way he'd been acting. He swore, in another few seconds, he'd been about to kiss her. And that would have been bad. Very bad. What was dangerous was that he was beginning to wonder what would have happened if the two of them had met and gotten to know each other under other circumstances.

He was being absurd. Ridiculous. Insane. He couldn't afford this kind of distraction. Chloe was a means to an end to him. Nothing more. She was merely a way to bring down his ex-wife.

When had he started thinking of Lana as his ex-wife?

Lex pushed the thought out of his mind.

"So...Chloe..." he said awkwardly when the silence got to be a bit oppressive. "Tell me...are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

Danger! Danger! Abort! Abort! Where the hell did THAT come from???  
_  
You could go with it, you know. You might be pleasantly surprised._

Or killed. He just had to keep reminding himself 'special hell, special hell, special hell, special hell...'

Eager to cover up his slip, Lex hastily concocted an explanation that might work. "I'm just wondering if I should be expecting any visits from a jealous boyfriend after you and I are seen together with you looking as lovely as you do right now."

There... just enough flattery to hopefully cause her to not think too hard about his question or read too much into it. He hoped.

Silence. Pure awkward silence. And she was usually so talkative. She just couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make her look like a shy teenage girl. She was surprised he didn't know the answer to his question already. Didn't Lex usually know everything?

"I huh... No. No jealous boyfriend. No boyfriend at all, actually."

The logical follow up would have been for her to ask him the same question. But what a dumb thing to ask. Of course she knew the answer. Chloe somehow hoped he had been asking for some other reason than simple curiosity. Again, a voice in her mind reminded her he still loved Lana. And he would _always _love Lana, very likely.

"Got any hardcore fans that I should be aware of? You know, in case she ends up trying to kill me after seeing us in public," she teased him, trying to chase away the awkwardness that had come between them. "I'd like to know before I get tortured or anything," she said with a little smile.

Lex chuckled, grateful that things were lightening up between them. "Oh, at least one or two. But you shouldn't worry about it too much. You can usually see them coming, as they have a nasty tendency to shave their heads."

Chloe chuckled at Lex's comment. "And here I thought your fans were all Barbies. Brainless and plastic." That was meant to be funny, but it made her think once more that he could never be into her. Years before, when she had looked in the past, she had noted that Lex always hooked up with the most beautiful girls – usually brunettes, Lana included. Chloe had nothing in common with those women. She didn't have their grace. Not that she really envied being artificial, but she wished for once that she'd have someone look at her the way she'd seen so many look at Lana. At the moment, she even wished that Lex would be one of them.

Lex pondered what she'd said about not having a boyfriend. It confirmed what his sources had told him (he never implemented a plan without having as much information as he could possibly gather), but it was still an odd thought. Why hadn't any of the denizens of Smallville snatched her up already?

Knowing that he was taking the conversation back into potentially dangerous territory, he decided to ask her. "Why not? I mean, why don't you have a boyfriend? I won't list all of your virtues again, at the risk of you thinking I'm making it all up, but I have a hard time believing a woman such as yourself doesn't have the option to get involved with someone at this point in your life. Which means it must be by choice."

Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he asked, "So why would Chloe Sullivan decide to be alone, I wonder? Have you just not found someone who's caught your eye, or is it possible you're carrying a torch around for someone?" Deciding to tease her as opposed to putting her on the spot, he added lightly, "Or maybe there's a secret love affair in your life that nobody knows about, even your very closest of friends. Come on, Chloe. You can tell me. Who's the man who's stolen the heart of the lovely Ms. Sullivan?"

"Hmm?" Chloe got dragged of her thoughts and quickly realized he was referring to her earlier answer. Why was she alone? Damn, if she only knew. Well… She had at least one or two running theories. She had loved Clark for so many years that she had never really opened her heart to anyone else. Yes, there had been Jimmy, but apparently, even he couldn't deal with her affinity for the farm boy. She was over Clark, finally, and she had gotten over Jimmy quickly. The pain of being alone again was still present, but no, she knew Jimmy would never have been the one.

"I don't know Lex... It didn't work out with Jimmy and I guess I've been busy lately to think about it." Truth was, she didn't want to think about it. And now, with the recent events with Lex, she wanted to think about it even less. It wasn't as if there could be any possible future with Lex, even in an alternate reality in which Lana hadn't been the woman he'd come to love. At least, it was easier for her to think that way.

And then she blushed, thinking of his last question. Who was the man who had stolen the heart of the lovely Ms. Sullivan?

_You._

But instead of speaking her thought aloud, she said instead, "No one for the moment."


	23. Chapter 21

A/N: Reviews/Feedbacks highly appreciated. Plese don't be shy to leave a comment!!

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Chapter 21: Kiss and Tell

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Lex looked over at Chloe. She seemed unusually reserved as she responded to his teasing. Maybe he'd missed his mark in trying to lighten the mood. If she was still hung up on Clark...well, that was lovely. He wanted to cripple Lana by taking away her support system, not set up Chloe and Clark by flinging her into his arms. He knew she'd go to Clark in the end, of course, but that didn't mean he had to forcibly shove her in that direction.

Speaking comfortingly, Lex reached over to give her a reassuring pat. He didn't even realize at first that he'd placed his hand on her bare knee and gave it a quick squeeze, and he certainly didn't realize when he left it there.

"I know it's hard to let go of something you've wanted for so long," he told her gently. "But it will happen. One day, you'll find someone who's absolutely crazy about you, and then you'll realize that Clark never deserved you and that you are way out of James Olsen's league."

Chloe was still trying to remove all silly thoughts that had been running through her mind, the question of whether or not she longed for someone. Longed for him? Of course not. She was probably too… lonely and he HAPPENED to be nice. So he was making her react the way Clark once had... so what? What did she know about love anyway? And what about the fact that Lex was creating one hell of an internal battle inside of her, and she just wanted to jump on him so badly – as she had never quite wanted to do with anyone else before? It was purely hormonal. Because no, there was no way...

All of a sudden, Chloe felt Lex's hand on her knee. She felt an electric shock going trough her body. Damn it. When he referred to Clark in a not so subtle way, she finally spoke again. "I'm not longing for Clark. Or Jimmy for that matter." She slightly smiled at his comment. She would find someone. Well she hoped. She still had time, after all… right?

Chloe put her hand on Lex's hand, which was still on her knee, and looked over at him. "You will too, Lex. One day you'll find someone who loves you for who you are," she replied, as her thumb gently rubbed his hand in an unconscious gesture.

Lex hadn't realized that his hand was still on Chloe's knee until she placed her hand on his, and then he would have pulled his hand away but that would have probably seemed rude. So he left it where it was. He felt her rub his hand softly, and he had enough presence of mind to recognize that he was focusing far more attention on the simple (and probably thoughtless) gesture.

Rather than do something he'd regret, he decided to try to deflect the moment. "Someone who'll love who I am," he said musingly with an ironic twist of his lips and a small shake of his head. Didn't she get it? Any woman who would see him for the man he was and love him anyway would probably have to be as corrupt as he was, with a heart as black as pitch and a soul that was itself beyond redemption.

Why did Chloe seem to cling to this idea that Lex was more than what he was, when he knew for a fact that he was only half of what she saw? And maybe even less than that, really.

Did it have to be that way? He didn't know, but sometimes he wondered…

Inspired by that thought, he asked abruptly, "Do you ever wonder what would happen to the entire course of your life if you could go back and change just one single moment? One decision that you made, one chance encounter? If you could go back and maybe meet someone in a different way, or at a different time, or...or even not at all? What would life be like? Would it be better, or worse?"

Chloe considered his question for a moment. "Hmmm…" There were a lot of moments she had wished she could go back and change. She had thought about just that many times before. At some point, Chloe had wondered what life would be like if the meteor shower had never happened. What would her life be like if she hadn't moved to Smallville? And of course, she had wondered plenty of times what would have happened if there never had been a tornado 5 years ago. Would something have happened with Clark? And what if she had worked for Lionel? She usually ended up with the same conclusion. Knowing Clark, as hard as it was sometimes, had been one of the best things in her life. Living all those moments, even when they were dangerous… she'd never trade them. She still wished for a normal life sometimes, but nothing came without some kind of consequence.

And then there was Lex. She had once wondered if they could have gotten closer in the past. But was there anything she could have changed? Chloe hadn't been the one ignoring him. HE had made the decision to push her away. There wasn't much she could do, at least, that's what she thought.

"Well, sometimes I do wonder, like anyone, but then I tell myself… In this actual moment, I wouldn't be the way I am if it wasn't for my past. And then I ask myself... Am I happy at this moment?" Chloe paused and took a deep breathe, slightly blushing and shyly smiling. "Well… I know I am now. So I guess I wouldn't change anything."

Ok, that was... a LOT more than she'd intended to reveal to him. It was a little embarrassing, come to think of it. Chloe cleared her throat. "And you? I mean... returning the question… your question..."

Of course, her answer didn't surprise Lex in the least. It was exactly what he would have imagined she'd say...well, okay, except for the bit about her being happy right at this moment. Which was either ironic or naive, Lex didn't know which, because from his perspective, it was like Little Red Riding Hood saying she was perfectly happy as she sat three inches from the Big Bad Wolf, who was about to devour her alive.

He also shouldn't have been surprised that she turned the question back on him, but the thought of answering it made him uncomfortable. Would he change things? And if so, what?

What kind of man would he have been if he'd made different choices in his friendship with Clark?

What kind of man would he have been if Chloe hadn't turned her back on him (choosing Clark instead - of course) after he'd helped save her life?

What kind of man would he have been if he'd never set eyes on Lana Lang?

Would he have been a better man? A worse one? Or was it all really out of his hands, his future set in stone before he'd even had a choice in the matter? Had he been railing against Destiny for years now, only to find out that Destiny had an ace up her sleeve and a stacked deck in her hands, and Lex Luthor had never had a chance from the moment he decided to try to bet against the house?

The house always won, he'd finally learned. Always.

And Destiny was a cruel and malicious bitch.

Maybe he'd never had a choice in the matter and he'd been doomed before he even began. But...was there another choice he could have made differently? Had he tarnished the people around him, people who might have had far happier lives without him in it? He thought about Lana - the girl he'd first met and the woman she'd become. Had he done that to her, or had it been inside her all along?

He would probably never know.

He had no way of knowing, really, how he'd influenced the people around him in the past. He did know, however, what he planned for the future. As far as it went with Lana...he couldn't help it, but the hatred inside him couldn't regret it either. But Chloe...

She was an innocent, dragged into his schemes to be used against the woman Lex wanted to destroy. And he knew it was unfair. Of course, it was a sad but true fact that it was his nature to do such things...and worse. But now Chloe had asked him a question he'd stupidly demanded of her, and deep inside, he knew the answer.

He couldn't veer off the course he'd set for himself. It just wasn't his way. But he could, at times, lament the things that he was about to do.

If he could change one thing, what would he change? He could do nothing to make his own life better, his own path one which led to a better man than he would ever be. But perhaps there would have been hope for others, were it not for him.

If he could change one thing, he would wish that he'd never met Chloe Sullivan. He thought of the way she'd smiled at him in her apartment, and how he'd been slowly seeing over the course of the day the woman that she was.

And he knew that he would destroy that.

Thinking of the scene at the cafe, he began to wonder if he hadn't already. He couldn't help it; even if it wasn't for the unwitting part she had in his plan. He would destroy the woman she was because that was the man he was. And Lex Luthor had never once held a thing of beauty and not destroyed it with the simple fact of his touch.

As if the thought burned him, his hand jerked under hers, his fingers spasming as they fought to pull away from her gentle touch. But what was the point, really? It was already too late. For all of them, really.

Given a choice, he might have spared her. But, as he'd already concluded, Destiny was a bitch.

The lie came easily to his lips, to be spoken with all the nonchalance he'd ever been able to feign. "I would wish that things had ended differently with Lana, of course." It was a lie, he knew, but it was a lie he thought she would likely believe. However, even as he spoke, he gently pulled his hand from under hers and put it back on the steering wheel, his skin growing cold in the absence of her touch.

Chloe snapped back to reality once again. She looked at Lex's hand retracting from her bare knee as it seemed to be in slow motion while many reactions and thoughts ran in her mind one after the other. First she felt hurt. _Lana_, of course. How could Chloe really think he could ever like someone like Chloe when he'd been married to Lana Lang? Why wouldn't he want to make things better with the woman he claimed to love?

And then, she felt stupid. It was silly to even think he'd ever cared for her. He would never stop loving Lana. He had said it 30 minutes ago, in front of Clark. It had probably meant to hurt Clark, but it had affected her too. And that brought the final emotion she could feel about this situation. Anger. At herself.

Why did she even care? There was no way things could even work between them anyway. She wasn't really falling for him. She couldn't. And it angered her to know that deep down, a voice was telling her otherwise.

"Oh. Of course." Lex's voice might have seemed detached from what he had said; that hadn't stopped Chloe from believing him. The words had affected her more than she really wished they would have. All of a sudden, this car seemed too small. She felt like she needed to get away from him. Go somewhere, where she could bang her head on a wall, hoping to get back to herself. Back to her senses.

Chloe crossed her arms on her chest and looked at the road, looking for anything that could tell her they were going to arrive soon. She didn't know how long she could take being in a close space with Lex anymore.

"So, ... hmm, are we there yet?" she asked, changing topics completely.

Lex was surprised when he could swear he felt the temperature in the car drop by a good twenty degrees. Shooting a look at Chloe out of the corner of his eye, he amended his previous guess. Make that thirty degrees. The windows would probably ice up soon.

That was...peculiar. Curious. And confusing as all hell.

"We're almost there," he told her consolingly, but that didn't cause her to thaw at all, it seemed. Well, he seriously doubted that the situation would be much improved by ignoring it. In his experience, that just meant having a silent dinner with an ice-cold date who shot knives at him with her eyes the entire meal (if she didn't throw them at him in actuality). And then generally a pair of diamond earrings the next day.

Since that would hardly be an appropriate response in this situation, he figured biting the bullet was really the only way he had to go at present.

"Unless the thermostat in this car is broken, I'd venture a guess to say that I must have said something wrong - or at least something that upset you," he said lightly. It was a dangerous line to toe, using a bit of light humor to try to diffuse the situation without crossing the line and making an irate woman even more livid.

Of course, since there were only two things he'd said recently, it wasn't hard to figure out which of the two had angered her. It was, however, impossible for him to figure out why. Why would talking about his ex-wife anger Chloe that way? Because Chloe was her friend? He mulled that over. It made sense...he supposed...maybe...

It would make more sense if Chloe were upset because he was talking about his ex-wife on a date with her, but this wasn't exactly a real "date"...was it? Well, he couldn't imagine that she would possibly want it to be, knowing as he did what she felt about him. Or had felt about him.

Actually...what DID she feel about him? What she'd said the night before or whatever Clark had told her that had caused her to stop speaking with him a couple years before? It was terribly confusing and a little frustrating but...well, that was pretty much par for the course when trying to figure out the woman next to him, wasn't it?

But if she was inscrutable, she was also honest. Sometimes brutally so. Making up his mind abruptly, he pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car, killing the engine before turning to the woman in the passenger seat next to him.

Were they ever going to get to destination? And Chloe wondered why he had stopped the car so suddenly. She certainly didn't like the way he started to speak. Somehow, she knew there would be some kind of 'moment of truth' at this time, even though she had no idea what it would be about. Well, besides that, it might have something to do with Lana. Again.

Though he could tell she wasn't pleased by his abrupt decision, Lex decided to forge ahead regardless. "Chloe...I..." Well. That was just perfect, wasn't it? He had made up his mind and now it balked at the problem of presenting his conclusion to her.

Knowing he was going to come off as a complete and utter idiot (and more than a little inept), he decided to charge ahead anyway. At least he had reason to believe that being an inept idiot in front of her wouldn't disgust her completely. She was friends with Clark, after all. "Chloe, after last night...and today...I'd like to think that there is a chance that you and I might be...or grow to be...well...friends. Of a sort. I know you don't entirely trust me, and understandably so. But I've been told...repeatedly...ad nauseum, really...that I have a number of flaws but that among them...I really am not a terribly honest or trusting person. A point which, if I'm going to be as honest as I can, is not one I can truly deny. But I do...I want to think that you and I are friends, and, to that end, I know I should...there are things that I should say or...explain..."

_Friends_. A few days ago she would probably have laughed in his face, but now she felt as if it wasn't even enough. "Lex..." She started, but apparently she couldn't stop him because the look in his eyes stopped her protest before it had even formed.

Was it going well? He wished he could tell. He also wished he could find the point he was trying to make and then, perhaps, make it. This was all going spectacularly poorly.

Clenching his jaw, he looked away from Chloe, staring out the front window instead. Maybe it would help if he didn't look at the woman next to him.

"It's clear that I upset you earlier, with what I said about Lana." Only think of how the truth would have been worse. "The truth is, Chloe, that I have a number of regrets - not the least of which is the relationship I had with my ex-wife. I have committed far, far more egregious sins than thinking I loved the wrong person.

"I have learned that I cannot change what I am; I can only admit that I am not now the man I once wanted to be. But I can try, at least, to be honest with you. I'm not, I confess, terribly good at it, but if the alternative is to push you away as I have so many others, then I suppose I have no other option but to try...even though I know you aren't going to like what I'm about to say."

Looking back at her, he waited until she met his eyes before he said softly, "The answer I gave is not entirely a lie. I wish I could go back and change my relationship with Lana. I wish I'd never met her, been deceived by her, or cared about her. I've always known there's darkness inside me, Chloe; I've been fighting it my entire life, even as I felt it eating away at me from within. I used to think that Lana could keep it at bay. She looked at me and she told me..." He let his voice trail off for a moment as he remembered all the things she'd said. All the lies. "So many things," he finally finished softer still.

When Lex looked away, Chloe continued to stare at him. As he spoke, he seemed so hurt. She could hear it in his voice. She could feel it. And as his eyes met back hers, she could also see it in his dark blue eyes and she got lost in him. She wanted to stop him from speaking; she was scared of what he would confess. But she didn't know what to say. Her eyes drifted down to his lips, then back to his eyes as she pushed the thought that had sprung to mind away. This wasn't the moment to think of something that she could never get – something that would be wrong of her to pursue, anyway.

Lex's gaze bored into hers as he continued, "But I know now it was a lie. Not just the things she said but the...the idea of her. What I thought she was and what I thought she could be. I suppose I'm mostly to blame for that. But I was telling the truth when I said I wished I could go back and change my relationship with Lana. I...changed, when I was with her. I wanted to be a better man, but...being with her...it made me worse. I look inside myself now and know I'm losing the battle with the darkness within, much more than I ever was before I met her. Being with her...the things she said...the things she did...and then her leaving...I'm losing the battle and I know it, and it makes me hate her all the more. And that makes everything so much worse."

He looked away from her, tightening his grip on the wheel an speaking to his hands, "I wish I could change things because I think I might have still had some goodness left inside me if I'd never known her. But, even knowing all that...her name wasn't the first to come to mind when I thought about all the regrets I've had in my life."

With an odd twist of his lips, he blew out a heavy breath. If he was going to salvage the situation, he'd realized as he pulled over the car, he was going to have to be honest with her - as honest as he could be. That didn't mean that it was going to be easy, by any means. It also didn't mean that it was going to go any better after he told the truth than it would have with a pack of lies. In fact, it was likely to get much, much worse. It was, however, a gamble he was going to have to take.

Looking back over at her, he said, "We can continue dancing around each other and not really saying what we're thinking, or we can try to be honest with each other. So, I'll tell you my greatest regret, Chloe, and I'll do so as honestly as I can...if you tell me why you it hurts you every time I talk about my relationship with Lana."

Chloe caught her breath at his challenge. Why it hurt every time? She couldn't explain. There were no words, at least no words that she could speak aloud. She could barely allow herself to think them, so there was no chance she could even say them out loud and less chance still that she could do so in front of Lex. "Lex..."

And then, Chloe, still hypnotized by his sad eyes and his soft voice, did the unthinkable. She leaned forward without even thinking about what she was doing, and she kissed Lex with some sort of passion. It was as if her lips had given Lex the answer to his question, or at least a hint, where words had failed.


	24. Chapter 22

A/N: Yay An update! So here is what follows the kiss... ;)

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**Chapter 22**: The Kiss - Part 2  


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While this kiss should have released some of her tension, it simply made her want him even more. Quickly, she realized what she had just done and broke the kiss.

She couldn't help but think of how soft his lips were, but at the same time she just wanted to die on the spot. There was no way she had just done that. There was just no way... She looked at him in a state of shock and blushed. She was speechless. She really wanted to disappear. She was cursing at herself and also at the fact that she couldn't freaking get out of the car and walk around the city. No, they had to be stuck on the road.

"I'm.. I'm.. I'm sorry... I don't know what.... I shouldn't... I'm sorry.." Chloe could barely put two words together. Her voice was shaking, as was probably her whole body, and she felt like her head would explode.

She really wanted to die, because she had just done the worst thing possible. Chloe had done the unthinkable.

As she pulled away, Lex pondered the fact that there weren't many in life who could brag that they'd taken Lex Luthor completely and totally by surprise and rendered him utterly speechless, but now Chloe Sullivan could claim that right. Hell, she might have been at the top of the list. He'd been expecting her to say something about Lana - maybe how Clark had always compared both girls and found Chloe wanting - and how the other girl was a sore subject for her. A kiss was completely...it was just...well, it had to be the most...it was utterly...he was surprised.

And now she was looking at him in shock and maybe a little horror. Certainly she didn't look particularly comfortable with what she'd just done. As a gentleman, a good host, and a man acting as a friend, he should find just the right words to tell her that everything was okay and that they could both forget it if she wanted as the lapse it no doubt was.

Unfortunately, though, he couldn't quite think of the words to say any of this, unless the words, 'Kiss good' would sum it all up. No he should think of something else to say. Something better. _Want to try again?_ Gah! No! That would no doubt get him clobbered!

"Um...I'm...um...no problem. We'll pretend it never happened." _But I didn't give it my best shot and might have left you with the wrong impression. Could you give me another try? _What the hell??? He had to get himself under control! _Why? Letting go could be fun._ Shut up, he told the inner voice that wasn't helping matters at all.

"We should...er...dinner...That is, we should get going to dinner. If we're late, they'll give our table away." Okay, well, first of all, there was no way that a restaurant would deny Lex Luthor a table. If they had to boot other, less esteemed guests out the back door, they would. And second..._Kiss good?_ Er...second..._Come on, you know you really want to kiss her again._ That was...second..._She's sitting right next to you. All you have to do is lean a little to the right._

Okay, to hell with "second" he decided as, with a grinding of gears, he threw the car back into drive and set off. He was going to be a perfect gentleman and pretend the kiss never happened. He'd never embarrass her by bringing it up, and he had no doubt that she thought it was a mistake.

He looked over at the woman by his side. _Tempting, isn't she? _No. She wasn't tempting. Okay, she was, but he wasn't tempted. Okay, he was, but he wasn't allowed to be. _Oh, and you ALWAYS follow the rules. Do you even know what rules are? _Of course he did! And the first rule was that you don't lunge at a woman like Chloe, no matter how alluring and irresistible she was, and kiss her until the both of you pass out from lack of oxygen. And then, when you regain consciousness, take her back to your castle and carry her into bed where you do your best to drive the thought of any other man (or leaving. Or even walking again) out of her mind or die trying. And you certainly don't... _Are you SURE you're saying no to this, because for a man who's determined to deny yourself, you have a pretty vivid picture in your mind. I'm not sure Chloe's got black lingerie on, by the way, but I wouldn't object if you wanted to check._

He REALLY hated that voice.

_You're sweating._

It wasn't going to leave him alone.

_Hey, I was just saying._

He did NOT want to kiss Chloe Sullivan!

_...Okay._

Okay? Really? That was it? After all the annoying inner dialogue, it was going to capitulate so quickly?

_Well, only because at that particular moment, you weren't picturing kissing her. And, anyway, she'd have been screaming too loud in pleasure if you'd tried. But...oh, wait...now we're back to kissing again. So...indeed...yes you do._

GAAAAAH!

With a screeching of tires, Lex, driving almost recklessly, slid to a halt in front of the restaurant. Before the alarmed valet - who'd fled at the sight of the car barreling down on him - could return (slowly and shaking but still), he'd hopped out of the car without a word.

_Standing up...maybe not such a good idea right now. Anyone got a notebook?_

Shut up.

Jogging around the front of the car, he flung open the door with such force that, if he'd been a stronger man, he might have ripped it off its hinges. He could tell Chloe was surprised when he offered her his hand and helped her out of the car before slamming the door behind her and whirling around, with every intention of heading purposefully toward the front doors.

_Seriously. SERIOUSLY! You're going to leave it like that??? I don't think so._

He should.

_But what do you WANT to do?_

Wherever the evil (or at least more tempting) voice was coming from, his saner half wasn't given a chance to argue. One step from the curb, and Lex had already whirled around again. Wrapping his hands around Chloe's waist, he backed her up until she was pressed against the car, her back curved back slightly as it followed the lines of the vehicle. Then he raised his hands and cupped her face gently in his palms. Locking his eyes on hers, he leaned forward, feeling her uneven breath as it caressed his skin. Then he tilted her head back and kissed her, keeping his embrace gentle as his lips brushed against hers.

Lowering one hand, he wrapped it around the small of her back and pulled her abruptly closer, holding her tightly to him as he kissed her again and again and again. Finally, with his breath slightly ragged, he let her go without warning and took a step back.

That was probably a terrible idea. He couldn't care less.

**---**

Silence. The last part of the drive had been spent in radio silence. On both sides. While he seemed to have been lost in his thoughts, she, on the other hand, was trying not to melt on the seat. She couldn't help but wonder why in the world she had kissed him. Now if he was just playing her since the beginning, he could celebrate his victory. And if he had been oblivious to the tension between them... well now he was aware of it.

Silly, silly, silly. Chloe couldn't help but curse mentally at herself. Chloe, who could usually play with words and bounce back in no time, just didn't know how to get back to how things were - which, when she thought about it, put them in that situation to begin with. No, put HER in that situation. Because SHE had kissed him. Sure, he had put his hand on her thigh.. and elsewhere _by mistake_, but SHE had kissed him. She, Chloe Sullivan, his ex wife's maid of honor a few weeks before. His nemesis's best friend. The girl who had tried to shut down a number of his projects in the past year.

FINALLY, they arrived somewhere she assumed was the restaurant, and he parked, almost in a rush. Was he impatient to run away from her? Had this been that traumatic for him? As she was starting to get even more paranoid, her door opened. In surprise, and still mulling over what had happened earlier, Chloe accepted his hand and stepped out of the car. She slightly jumped when she heard the door slamming. Lex wasn't acting entirely like himself. "Erhm... You know, if you feel too uncomfortable..."

Before she could even go on, he had pressed her against the car, and although a number of people were around, watching the two of them, Chloe was too surprised, curious or just hypnotized by Lex's eyes that she didn't even see the world around them.

A kiss. Lex was kissing her. It seemed as if the time had stopped and they were alone in the world. Yet, it didn't lasting long enough. Chloe was surprised by the first kiss, but she didn't fight against his embrace. Instead she leaned into him, responding to his kisses. Truth be told, she had forgotten for a moment that they weren't alone.

And then nothing. Chloe was waiting for something for a brief millisecond, then opened her eyes and saw Lex. Had she been dreaming?

**---  
**  
Feeling slightly sheepish and more than a little self-satisfied, Lex offered Chloe a rakish grin and tried to break the tension between them as he pulled away. "Okay, NOW we can pretend it didn't happen. I just thought I'd even the score...and, to be honest, you took me by surprise the first time. I didn't want you walking away with any misconceptions about my ability to kiss." With a wink, he offered her his arm, ready to show her inside. He hoped his kiss had helped with her embarrassment (and if it didn't, he had to say that she was one hell of a good kisser either way).

One thing was for damn sure. Maybe she would regret kissing him, but there was no way, after that kiss, that he'd ever regret kissing her.

Even.... Ability to kiss... Chloe could hardly process what he was saying. "Right.. Even the score…" she repeated, still somewhat shocked by what had just happened moments ago. Damn. She had never kissed anyone who could kiss like that. Never before had she felt like she could catch fire, just from someone's touch.

After a moment, looking around quickly, she realized how many people were staring at them. Some were touched by the scene; some seemed to be waiting for what next would come, as if watching a reality show. A few people were clearly a little in shocked, probably because they were aware that Lex Luthor was married and that the blonde girl definitively wasn't the woman appearing in pictures with him in the past months as his wife. It was a good thing there were no reporters around, or Lex and Chloe would have been screwed.

Blushing, she shyly took Lex's arm, a little embarrassed by the situation – mostly from the way she had responded to his kisses. If she thought she was screwed after kissing him in the car, she was more so after her reaction to his kiss. Obviously, she had little, if any, self control.

She glanced over at him, afraid of staring for too long as she tried to avoid impure thoughts that clearly were now stuck in her head.

Lex chuckled at her blush as he placed his free hand over the one she had placed on his arm in a comforting gesture. In retrospect, it was probably reckless - or at the very least foolish - to do what he'd just done. It wasn't like he had any degree of anonymity, so he'd likely just opened Chloe up to even more public scrutiny and lascivious speculation than he already had.

_On the other hand,_ the evil voice in the back of his mind whispered, _the fallout from this will probably help break Lana._ Somewhat bemused by the thought, Lex rested his hand on the Chloe's back and guided her through the maze of tables.

As Chloe walked through the restaurant, she felt paranoid, convinced that everyone was looking at them. She managed to calm herself as much as possible, but every time she thought about the kiss, she either blushed or slightly smiled, and she always ended up biting her lower lip in a betraying gesture. A week ago, it would have been the last thing she would have expected, being in a restaurant with Lex. Feeling so deadly attracted to him.

Sure, a little more than two years ago, she had grown attracted to him, but when he had ignored her after she got back to Smallville, she'd put those feelings aside and had turned her attention back to Clark. But now, this little flame inside her that had been sleeping for some years now, was fully awake. And alive.

Growing even more uncomfortable by the silence between them, Chloe tried to pretend as best she could that nothing had happened. So she tried to light the mood. "So, think we're going to make a first page or are we going to be put in a little corner of tomorrow's papers on page 45?" she asked with a little smile, and though she was still a little embarrassed by her behavior, she managed to sound amused.

In appreciation of her attempt at levity, Lex smiled down at her as the maitre d' ushered them quickly to a private table in the best part of the room. "Oh, that? Just that one little kiss? We might make page 20, if we're lucky and it's a slow news day."

"Yeah... Page 20..." she replied, trying to convince herself. She couldn't help but think about what would Clark think if he found out about the kiss. Or Lana. Or anyone from the Justice League, for that matter. But the worst of all was the realization that she was even more troubled the question of was what was happening right now, between them. What those kisses meant. How serious could it get. How dangerous it could be. And above all, she was afraid her feelings were making her lose focus on Lana's situation.

Seeing that she was unconvinced, Lex added, "In general, I'm afraid I've so jaded the city's reporters with my antics that it would take something exceptional to make the first page. At this point...hm...it might take something like me deciding to eat my dinner off your naked body, right here in the middle of this crowded restaurant, for them to take notice."

His statement had been said somewhat cynically (and might have been something of a lie, since he had no doubt that his kiss with Chloe would likely make far more than page 20 if anyone had photographic evidence of it), but now that he had spoken his thought aloud, he wondered if it had been particularly wise for him to make such a suggestion. It was possible that she might take his statement as a proposition, and that would certainly make her even more skittish than his grabbing her in front of the restaurant and kissing her in full view of the world had already done. True, she'd kissed him first, but at least she'd had the prudence to do so in private. He smiled wryly at the thought.

Chloe laughed when Lex joked about eating food off her naked body, but she felt her cheeks flush with color – once again – when she found that she couldn't help but picture him doing just that. Oh, she definitively had a thing for him, but whether it was simply physical or something more, she didn't know yet. It was hard enough for her to admit, even to herself, that she had feelings for him at all.

And why on earth had he kissed her back? Chloe wasn't his typical type, the beautiful brunettes that he usually dated. She was rather short and blond; not at all like Lana. She didn't know much about fashion, and she slept in a pajama with teddy bears on it. How could a guy like him ever be interested in a girl like her? Part of her believed what he had said earlier, but another part couldn't help but wonder if all of this didn't have something to do with Lana. Since he had arrived on her doorstep – and maybe before – Chloe had wondered if maybe he was playing her, but when she looked into his eyes, she couldn't help but see genuine kindness towards her.

Trying to keep the mood lightened, she joked, "I guess it would make 'Entertainment Tonight' highlight. Hey, maybe I could go on talk shows and earn some money from it."

Lex laughed at the thought of Chloe hitting the talk show circuit. It was curious, now that he thought about it, but Chloe was probably the only woman he'd ever seen socially (or anything even approaching it) who would want to hide it from the world. Most women loved the attention; hell, for a number of the women he dated, that was most of the appeal, the attention from the press and their chance at fifteen minutes of fame - and, of course, the hope that they could get more if they managed to land the last name of Luthor as their own. Chloe, however, had every reason to keep their acquaintance a secret. Hell, she had every reason to hide it, to be embarrassed by it, and to try to deny it publicly.

He didn't know whether to be bemused by this turn of events or to be a little annoyed that she would feel so about him, even if she had plenty of reason to do so (and more, in fact, than she even knew). Though the angel in his shoulder told him it would be better to leave well enough alone, as usual, he gave in to the devil's prompting instead.

Though he knew it would only keep the speculation about the nature of their relationship going, he escorted Chloe to her chair and helped her into it. Then, leaning down so that his cheek was almost brushing against her, he murmured softly in her ear, "For the record, I've never publicly eaten food off of anyone's naked body before, but I wouldn't turn down the opportunity."

Chloe shivered as Lex's cheek brushed against hers and she heard his voice whisper suggestively in her ear. How was it that just being close to him could make her have such a reaction? There was desire, a lingering awareness of his closeness. He smelled so good. Felt so good. And the kiss. What a kiss! No other man had ever kissed her the way he had. She opened her mouth to reply to his shocking proposition, but even as she tried to think of a joking rejoinder, she had to fight against the desire, burning inside, making her want to grab onto him and dare him to make good on his words.

At that moment, the waiter arrived for their drink order, obviously oblivious to the seduction taking place before him. Chloe ordered water, which made Lex chuckle at the thought that Chloe might have chosen something as prosaic as water in memory of the overindulgence the two of them had done the night before. Unperturbed, he ordered a bottle of wine, tactfully indicating that two glasses should accompany it.

As the waiter walked away to fill the order, Lex shoved his menu aside (he already knew what the best food in the house invariably was) and glanced quickly around the restaurant, taking in his surroundings. This restaurant catered to the finest of Metropolis's bluebloods, and there wasn't much scandal it hadn't seen under its roof. Still, with as unperturbed as its clientele generally was, the appearance of the reigning prince of the city, ostentatiously showing off a woman who wasn't his wife, was not an event that could pass without comment. Though they were trying to be inconspicuous about it, Lex could see a number of heads casually turn his way rather more frequently than would really be casual.

Frowning thoughtfully, he pondered his plan. It was possible that he'd already made a misstep - not a common occurrence for him. He wanted to flatter Chloe, to pay attention to her and soften her towards him so that he could use her to his purposes. He hadn't intended to make a very public appearance with her gracing his arm, and there was no way that, with the scene outside, this dinner date between them would be unnoticed in the papers tomorrow.

Well, he may have deviated from the plan, but it wasn't a total loss. Clark was clearly wounded that Chloe would trust Lex, and while that might undermine Lex's efforts to have Chloe plant doubts about Lana in her friend's brain, there had been something truly satisfying about the scene in Smallville earlier in the day.

The bigger problem was how this development with Chloe would affect Lana. Everything else was negotiable; Lex could deal with any contingency that arose. But Lana had to be pushed to the breaking point, or there was no point to any of this. As long as that happened, everything else would fall into place.

But was his present course likely to cause such an event to come about? Would Lana be driven mad by the thought of Lex taking Chloe out on a date? Oh, not out of love for him; certainly not. But perhaps...

Lana was a fickle creature, never satisfied with what life had given her, always looking to what others had and coveting them. She wasn't a materialistic woman, necessarily; her accomplishments weren't measured so much in things. She simply was a fundamentally unhappy person, who always thought that she could be made happy if she had what other people had - even if the more rational side of her told her that getting what she didn't or no longer had was the quickest path to misery.

It had marked very much of her life, but particularly her relationships. She had never wanted Clark more than when she couldn't have him and, Lex acknowledged with the sting of his pride aside, she had never wanted Lex more than she had when she'd thought that the world (or at least Clark) was trying to keep him from her.

She always wanted what she couldn't have, but once she had her object's heart, she quickly lost interest when she realized it couldn't give her what she was looking for. So she'd casually throw it aside, as one would with a broken toy, and seek out the next conquest, the next plaything, the next chance at happiness. As soon as someone else found her old toy and seemed to be happy with the plaything that Lana had discarded, however, Lana's attentions would return. Why was someone else happy with something that had so dissatisfied her? Had she missed out on something without realizing it?

So the whole process would start over again. Lana would fight to get the attention of the man she'd previously pushed away, and as soon as she had it, she would grow dissatisfied and leave. It was in her nature. It was who she was. That was Lana.

She'd done it with Clark for years, and, to an extent, she'd also done it with Lex. He had erred, he realized now, in allowing her to think she'd ever caught him. That had been his biggest mistake, and it might be an irrevocable one. But...then again, maybe not. If he could trust in her nature - and he generally could trust in the darker side of everyone's nature, as that was the only side he really understood - he could find a way to achieve the result he desired, even if he had to go about it a way he hadn't entirely planned. Lana might not be pushed to acting irrationally out of a sense of love for him or a desire to get him back. But to see her friend happy with a man that had so spectacularly failed to live up to every girlish dream she'd ever had? Oh, that would infuriate her. Lana might not admit to it. But she wouldn't be able to stand seeing Chloe happy with a toy she'd thrown aside.

Yes, this situation was salvageable. He could have his cake and eat it too. A part of him recognized that he was trying too hard, that there were easier ways to achieve his end, even as things were at this moment, than to do what he was thinking of doing. That, perhaps, as the reason for his behavior was as simple as the fact that he was enjoying Chloe's company and wanted to prolong the experience, other diabolical schemes be damned, perhaps he should just own up to it and let everything else fall where it may. There was no crime in the fact that he found himself enjoying her company, and he didn't really have to justify himself to the more Machiavellian side of his nature.

Except, of course, that she would leave, as they always did. At some point, she would go. Tonight, tomorrow, in a month from now...either because she'd finally opened her eyes to the man he was inside and couldn't handle the truth, or because she finally realized what he had done or was going to do to her friend and couldn't bear it. She would go, and when she did, it would be easier to see the back of her if he'd convinced himself that she had been nothing more than a game to him. He didn't think he could bear to admit to himself that he might actually want Chloe around for reasons that had nothing to do with his evil plots, only to lose her as he most certainly would.

No. The tiny feeling inside him, that he was happy to have Chloe's company in a way that had nothing to do with Lana at all, was shut away, the door to any such self-revelations then bolted, locked, and covered in cement.

He would not allow himself to be hurt again, but he would allow himself to publicly court Chloe. It would infuriate Lana, either because of the nature of her own unhappiness or because she would be driven into a rage at seeing Lex so blatantly play with the affections of her friend. Either way, the result would work in his favor.

So instead of doing as he had been doing, and trying to stay under the world's radar as much as possible, he decided to do the complete opposite. It would be difficult, he knew, toeing that line. He wanted the two of them to be noticed while not making it obvious that he wanted the two of them to be noticed.

The easiest way to do that, he decided after a moment, was to stop thinking about it one way or another. Put all thoughts of Lana out of his mind, and do what the silenced part of him had been wanting to do anyway. Focus solely on the woman in front of him, allow himself to enjoy her company, and let the world make of it what it would.

It was, he decided, a fantastic idea. Smiling, he pushed all these thoughts out of his head and let his mind linger instead on the woman in front of him. The flickering candlelight cast intriguing shadows on her face and hid the thoughts that were usually so easy to read behind her eyes. In the time that he'd been thinking, the waiter had returned and Lex had gone through the usual motions that begin a meal. He'd tasted and approved of the wine and gestured for both he and his date to be served. The two of them had also ordered their meals and chatted with somewhat inane small talk about the restaurant and its patrons.

The well-rehearsed ritual aside, Chloe and Lex were left to their own devices in relative privacy as they waited for their food to arrive. Even Lex wasn't immune to the romantic ambiance - the candlelight and crystal, and the soft music in the background. He didn't know whether it was an illusion cast by the world around them or simply an irrefutable fact that he'd somehow never allowed himself to notice before, but the woman in front of him was absolutely enchanting. When her smile reached her eyes, they sparkled and Lex found those smiles as intoxicating as a drug; he wanted nothing more than to see her smile like that at him over and over again.

Without thought, Lex let his hand fall on top of hers on the tabletop, marveling at the way her hand felt under his. Her hands were so tiny and graceful, the bones more delicate than his own. Her hand felt somehow fragile under his, so he wrapped his fingers around her hand protectively; nothing would hurt her while he was there to stop it.

"Dance with me," he blurted, arching his eyebrows at her in blatant challenge. It didn't matter that the music was really more for atmosphere or that there wasn't a dance floor. Lex wanted to dance with Chloe; he wanted to know what she felt like in his arms and he liked having an excuse to find out. He was Lex Luthor; if he wanted to dance with his date in the middle of the restaurant, nobody would stop them.

"Dance with me," he said again, this time with deliberation. "Please."


	25. Chapter 23

**A/N:** Sorry for the late update. Just so you know, Jade4813 and I are still working on this fic. Few chapters have been written and needs editing, but we will be keeping this baby alive. So, enjoy ;)

Thanks for the feedback guys!

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**Chapter 23**

Lex smiled as he led Chloe a little away from their table, to an area with a little bit more space. He didn't know why she was letting him do all the things she was letting him do, but her certainly wasn't going to complain.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, he caught her free hand in his and pulled her close to him. "I think we should go slow for our first dance, don't you?" he murmured in her ear as he cast a significant look towards the orchestra and the woman in the black beaded gown who had been halfway through a refrain about love gone wrong. Though she clearly wasn't used to such behavior, she also obviously knew which side of her bread was buttered because she abruptly stopped the song she had been singing and turned to whisper emphatically to her orchestra.

Immediately, they began again, this time a song that was low and full of longing. Her voice was like velvet as it travelled over the audience, and Lex began to sway as he held Chloe in his arms.

_It's not the pale moon that excites me  
That thrills and delights me  
Oh no  
It's just the nearness of you_

It's not your sweet conversation  
That brings this sensation  
Oh no  
It's just the nearness of you...

Oh, she was good. She was very good. Her voice was low and seductive, and it hit Lex and Chloe like they were the only two in the room. At the end of the evening, he made a mental note to make sure she got a very good tip for her performance this evening. Perhaps he'd buy her a car. The song itself was also perfect, and though, given that it was Lex Luthor for whom she was performing, the song Cold, Cold Heart might have been more appropriate, he certainly wasn't going to complain.

Ow. Okay, well, for the most part, it was perfect. Except that Chloe had just stepped on his left foot for the second time. He didn't know if she always danced like this or if he just made her nervous, but it was definitely a first for him. Normally, he didn't have to worry about leaving the dance floor with broken limbs when he danced with a woman. On the other hand, the women he danced with were usually so well lacquered that everything about them seemed canned. Including their dancing.

Tilting his head back, he considered teasing her about her fumble, but then he saw the high color in her cheeks. Clearly, the fact that her foot had landed on another foot rather than floor more than once had not gone unnoticed by her, and she was feeling embarrassed by it.

In that moment, Lex would have sworn that, if he'd been capable of it, he fell in love. Right then and there, on the dance floor, as his right foot got trod upon and began to share the abuse of his left. Of course, he reminded himself, he wasn't capable of love, so there was no way he fell for her right then. But he was capable of being charmed, he was capable of finding her charming, and he found himself swept away by both of these things.

She was absolutely the most adorable thing he had ever seen, let alone held, and he was absolutely captivated by her.

Though his feet might regret it tomorrow, the rest of him wouldn't, and he pulled her even tighter against him, slipping one foot between both of hers as he slowed down the rhythm a bit. "Relax," he whispered, and at that moment, he forgot that it was a game and that he wasn't allowed to feel anything. For that brief dance, he allowed himself to pretend that it could be more.

_When you're in my arms  
And I feel you so close to me  
All my wildest dreams  
Came true_

How could it be that dancing with Chloe felt so right? Was it merely the loneliness inside of him that called out more desperately tonight than usual, seeking for anything to fill the void and finding her conveniently near at hand? Or was there something about her, in particular, that he needed - that he craved, in fact? No, he decided as he looked around. He wasn't holding her in his arms because he wanted to hold someone and she was convenient. He'd done that before, many times; he knew what it felt like.

This felt like...something else.

Closing his eyes, he rested his cheek on her head as he swayed with her in his arms, no longer even noticing the occasional abuse to his feet. She could do the cha cha on his toes if she wanted, just as long as she didn't pull away.

This felt...right. Perfect. Like everything he'd been waiting for. And it scared the hell out of him.

"Chloe?" He murmured her name as if he was asking her something, but he didn't know what. Maybe he was asking her to give him what he'd never had, for what he'd always wanted. But he'd gone for so long without, he no longer remembered the words to ask. The memory of what he so longed for was so distant, so faded, it was almost like a dream, like a fantasy his brain had long ago concocted, a product of childish whimsy.

"Yes?" Chloe replied in a whisper, feeling like they were the only two persons in the whole restaurant. It felt like their bodies were made to meet. Like two pieces of a puzzle made for each other.

Suddenly, Lex spun Chloe out of his arms and back into them again, and though that got his feet a quick "one-two" of punishment, he didn't mind. Instead, he tilted his head forward and let his lips brush against the soft skin of her neck as he kissed his way from her shoulder to the shell of her ear.

_I need no soft lights to enchant me  
If you'll only grant me  
The right  
To hold you ever so tight  
And to feel in the night  
The nearness of you_

Yes, the song the singer had chosen couldn't have been more perfect if she'd written right there on the spot with Chloe and Lex in mind. Because Lex had long ago realized how pathetically easy romance could be for one who could buy and sell anything he chose. There was no mystery to romancing a woman, he would have said with a laugh of derision; there wasn't even a difficulty to it. All it took was music and flowers and soft lighting, and most women were swept off their feet by the fantasy of it all.

But Lex had never before felt what he felt now with Chloe in his arms. So was it possible that this was what everyond had waxed so poetically about since time immemorial? Was this what he'd never dreamed existed? Could it be that the fantasy actually had a reality to it, after all?

He was still kissing her, he realized as the song drew to its end, and he nuzzled the soft skin pressed up against his own. Her neck, her cheek, the delicate curve of her ear. He had cupped her cheek in his hand and tilted her head to the side, his lips barely a breath away from hers when the last note of the song carried over them. Wouldn't that just figure? With a wry smile, he wondered at his sudden heavy breathing as he asked, "Would you care to dance again?"

******

That definitively wasn't a 'my turn to kiss you back' kiss. Chloe's eyes shut completely, and she couldn't help but feel the intensity of the moment rise exponentially as his kisses trailed up to her ear. Now she was in her own world where there was no one but them. Chloe's hand, which had been on his back, moved up to his neck to caress his skin with her fingertips. She definitively wanted him. Right there, right then. Only his voice brought her back to reality, which included 40 something other customers, and a band, waitresses and bus boys.

Had she been daydreaming? By the sound of clapping from pretty much everyone in the restaurant – except perhaps those who were completely in shock that Lex was dancing so close with a woman who clearly wasn't with his wife – Chloe realized everything had really happened. Now if a passionate kiss in front of the restaurant would make page 20, this dance would certainly be worthy of page 2 or 3. Maybe even the cover of some gossip magazine.

Chloe's cheeks were burning as she felt the heat of the moment and turned back to Lex. If the situation had been different and they weren't under scrutiny, Chloe would probably have accepted another dance. And another. And another. Instead, a mix of lust and embarrassment in her eyes, Chloe declined. "I.. erhm… I think… Maybe we should leave…"

Her head was starting to spin as she thought about her friends. Was she letting them down? Lana seemed unstable enough, Chloe could believe her somewhat former best friend could be able to get vengeance. On both of them. She was going straight down to hell.

"I don't think I want to make Entertainement Tonight's show tomorrow…" She added more lightly, not wanting to make it sound as a rejection, because, frankly, did she look like someone about to reject Lex Luthor?

******

He had pushed her too far; he could tell. Maybe it was the look in her eyes or the fact that she wanted to leave, but he could tell that, in his eagerness, he had definitely overplayed his hand. He wished he could undo what he'd done, that pushed her this far. But it hadn't been planned, kissing her as he had. It had just happened.

He was, however, disappointed that she would be so eager to leave. Of course, he knew she had more than her share of good reasons to not want to stay. All things considered, he was the last person she should want to be seen with, particularly doing what they had been doing. There were a hundred reasons why it made total sense that she should want to go, but somehow, none of those one hundred reasons really mattered.

What did matter was the oddity that it actually hurt a little, the thought that she would be so eager to be free of him. So reluctant to be seen in his presence.

_You were married to her best friend._

I know. But still.

_And her other best friend kind of hates you._

Thanks. I didn't exactly need the reminder.

_For good reason._

I hate you.

_Just saying._

Of course, the voice of reason was all well and good, but it didn't do any favors. His reaction wasn't well-reasoned. It wasn't rational. It just stung a little bit. More than it should have. But, then again, Lex should be used to that by now.

Because she'd spoken quietly to him, he was able to lean in to return the favor, though he was cautious not to move in too closely. "We can't leave yet, I'm afraid. If we leave now, they'll feel like you're running from them and they'll smell blood in the water. In my circles, you never want to let anyone see you sweat."

Taking her hand, he gave it a quick squeeze and lifted it to his lips to brush a kiss on the back for the benefit of the audience. Though he knew she'd probably want him to release her as soon as possible, he had to keep up appearances. So he didn't release her hand as he led her back to their table and gestured to their waiter that the two of them were ready to be served.

"Sorry to put you in such a position," he said stiffly with a false smile, ignoring the nearby tables that were still staring openly at them. "I'm afraid I didn't think. We can leave soon, but if we leave now, I assure you that everyone in this restaurant will assume I'd be taking you straight back to the Mansion." _If only I could. If only you'd let me._ Let it go, Lex.

As if the evil voice in his mind hadn't spoken, Lex said evenly, "We'll not stay long, if you don't want; I know I've put you in an impossible position tonight. At the very least, though, you should stay to try some of that cake I told you about." Then he smiled again, that well rehearsed smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Sitting there, putting on appearances, Lex tasted the bitter taste of disappointment. For a few minutes, he'd allowed himself not to pretend with Chloe, and it had blown up in his face. Now she wanted to go back home (probably running as fast as her legs would carry her, if she had her way) and he was back to pretending like he didn't give a damn. Good thing he was very, very good at it.

Still, it was a bitter pill to swallow, and Lex looked around impatiently as he searched for his waiter. He should have thought to order the cake when their food delivered, but he hadn't thought about it. They should just get the damn cake and go. He'd take Chloe home now except he'd been telling the truth; everyone would assume he was taking her home to take advantage of her. And, really, it wasn't without cause. He did have that sort of reputation, didn't he? Though really, it was absurd. It was one thing to think it; it was another thing to act upon it. And he couldn't imagine acting upon his urges now, particularly given that she'd just made it very clear how little she'd be interested in reciprocating.

Plus, she was younger than him. And best friends with his ex-wife. And his ex-best friend. Who now hated him. There were a hundred reasons why, flirtation aside, he wouldn't touch her.

_A thousand._

To hell with it.

He should take her home and he knew it, but they had to time it properly. Good thing he was very, very experienced at this. They would leave after enough time had passed that it wouldn't seem like Lex was taking her back to his lair like some creature of the dark, to lock her innocent and virginal self away in the tower that he was sure most of Metropolis assumed he had. And when they left, Lex would be very sure to feign good humor with her, for the benefit of the tables around them. Not too much, because that would again raise speculative eyebrows. But if he showed too little, it would seem like he had tired of her already (it had happened that quickly before, with other girls), and that would open her up to an entirely different sort of prying speculation.

No, Lex had to be careful about it, but he wasn't terribly worried. He was very, very good at this, after all. It wasn't like he hadn't had practice.

Though his thoughts were dark, he made sure not to let them show on his face. Instead, as the cake arrived and was put gently on the table in front of him, he made sure to make light, casual conversation. If they were going to avoid further speculation (heaven forbid Chloe should have her name tainted by being linked with his any further), he had to get her to relax. So he chatted, he joked, he even laughed.

And if someone didn't know him very well, they would likely buy it. Someone who couldn't recognize the invisible wall he'd erected between himself and his "date." Someone who wasn't watching him closely enough to see the smiles that didn't reach his eyes or the way he no longer leaned in quite so far when she spoke, as if his body was unconsciously trying to be close to her.

No, nobody who wasn't very close with Lex would notice anything different.

So it was probably a damn good thing, he reflected, that nobody was very close with him. Lonely at times, to be sure. But at times like this, it was the only thing that salvaged his pride. It might have stung a little, that Chloe had her opinion of being linked with him so painfully clear. That she had pulled away from him, just when he'd allowed himself to relax and be himself around her, instead of always putting on that act that was second nature to him by now. Yes, it hurt. But he'd be damned if he admitted as much to anyone.

He was Lex Luthor. And he was very, very used to this.

******

Chloe was actually a little relieved that Lex wasn't taking it too personal. She softly sighed at his statement. He was probably right. They shouldn't leave too soon. She had freaked for a moment out on the unplanned dance floor. Everything she had been avoiding had come rushing back to mind. Clark. Lana. Lex's true colors, at least according to most people and even herself at times.

She was actually also relieved that she had been able to stop before it had gone too far. She didn't know what had gotten into Lex to make him kiss her like that on the dance floor, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know where it could have led. It was a possibility too dangerous to consider. So yes, Chloe was glad that she still was in control of her urges and that she had taken a step back.

Instead of replying to Lex, she nodded. She tried to not look embarrassed by the kiss on her hand, but the blush on her cheeks couldn't lie. It probably was best, so the improvised spectators would get what they want.

Back at the table, Chloe put a napkin on her thigh as the food arrived, timed with the end of the song. "It's okay, Lex, really. You don't need to apologize." Did he? Did he need to apologize for the kiss? Should she get mad or embarrassed? Was there a code between two former enemies? Perhaps she really was a little clueless, because deep down (though not so deep), she hadn't minded. But she was afraid of crossing a line. In fact, she suspected she'd already crossed it. Maybe Lana was right. Maybe Chloe wasn't such a good friend. She should have been more supportive of Lana's troubles and taken Clark's side at all cost. If it hadn't been for the fact that Lana had aborted her baby on purpose to get away with her former lover, maybe things would have been a little different. Maybe she would have trusted her friend more. Maybe…

"Really, Lex, I'm fine." Chloe added with a small but genuine smile. "And I can never say no to cake." She actually was starting to feel a little better, not paying attention to the remaining spectators who were still watching, waiting to see some good gossip.

The food was actually really good and the conversation had remained somewhat light, avoiding anything that had to do with Lana, Clark, the end of the world, corruption, and LuthorCorp. Seeing Lex so relaxed had made her relaxed as well. They didn't seem to be under scrutiny or she had simply forgotten all about the other diners and allowed herself to actually enjoy their dinner.

Of course, if it had been a date, she wasn't sure she would haft felt like she'd gotten to know the person in front of her better, since nothing really personal had been discussed. But then again, they had a lot of history together, and with other people that they both knew very well. She didn't pretend to know him perfectly, but she certainly had learned a lot about him over the years – through research, discoveries, or secrets spilled by Lana or Clark. And he probably knew her, as well. He had protected her a whole summer, after all. And he was Lex Luthor. He knew pretty much everything. But she was Chloe Sullivan and she usually found her way to find out whatever she needed to know herself – another thing they had in common. Beside their friendship – or former friendship – with some people.

"Ok so now I hope my stomach can take any more food. That cake better be good." Chloe added with another smile of hers, not aware that she had hurt Lex's pride moments ago. She had almost even forgotten that she had asked to leave.

For a moment there, she felt like they were friends. Or something close to that.

******

Well, wasn't that lovely, Lex thought sourly. Chloe enjoyed her cake. He was rather surprised that she didn't choke on it, being as she was, so desperate to get rid of his company. But no, she was sitting there, laughing at some joke he'd just made (heaven knew what he'd said) from across the table, as if absolutely nothing was wrong.

How did she DO that? How did she make it so clear that she wanted to be well rid of him one minute and act like everything was fine the next? Clark used to do that all the time, he recalled. Lana was a pro at it. He'd have never thought it of Chloe, but now...

"We should go," he said tersely as soon as she finished the cake. Then, realizing how short he'd sounded with her, he offered her a smile to take the sting from his words. No doubt she was feeling eager to leave and return to the sanctuary of her apartment above the Talon, but he couldn't afford to let anyone else at the restaurant know. She nodded in surprise as he rose to his feet. "Shall we?" he asked, moving around the table to help her from her seat.

To Chloe's surprise, before he left, he threw a few hundred dollar bills on the table. He had probably put on the table what she usually made in a week! But she didn't comment, and to him, the amount he'd spent wasn't terribly unusual. In fact, it was intended merely to cover the tab, the tip, and something extra. He hadn't forgotten that he wanted to tip the singer something special, but he'd have it delivered to her later, when he thought of something appropriate. Like rat poison.

No, that was unfair. Just because Chloe had become repelled by him during the course of the song didn't mean that he should take his anger and mild self-loathing out on the singer. She'd done her job; he had been the one who had screwed up. So instead, before he'd left the restaurant, he'd tracked down the singer's name and had sent a message to his office via his phone to have an appropriate gift - likely a car - delivered to her apartment. There, his debts had been settled.

While they were in the restaurant, he made sure to behave graciously towards Chloe. To her credit, she was clearly a very good actress, because she didn't make it clear, as he led her to the door, that she was just awaiting her first chance to run like a startled rabbit away from him.

How lovely.

_'You really are a bastard sometimes, you know that, Lex?'_ the little voice inside him asked.

Yes. Yes he did.

It was dark outside and the temperature had dropped while they were in the restaurant, and so Lex took Chloe's arm to block her from the burst of cold air as he escorted her to the car, which had been kept nice and warm in the interim. Lex graciously helped her into her seat and then walked around to the driver's side, where he got in.

As he took his seat, Chloe turned to him. "Thanks for the dinner. It seemed like it cost you a fortune though. That's something I'm not really used to." Avoiding any mention of their kiss made things a little easier.

Lex ignored her comment, given out of courtesy. Though his mask had stayed in place all throughout the rest of dinner and as they'd left, in the privacy of the car, he let it fall. There was no sense in pretending for her any longer, not when she was the one who was so desperate to get home.

"You did very well in there," he praised her in that cold, rather remote way he had. It was polite, but it lacked warmth and it certainly didn't encourage any feeling of closeness with the speaker. It was a voice he used often, to keep people at a distance. But, then again, it was a voice he'd heard often from his parents when growing up, so he certainly knew what it sounded like. "You should be proud."

Throwing the car into gear, he pulled out into traffic with a screech of tires. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, he said conversationally, "I'm afraid I can't get you home as fast as I'm sure you'd like, but I'll do what I can." Although this time, he wouldn't be stopping the car to kiss her, so she had that cold comfort, at least. No point in having a painful silence fill the car, though. Not when it could be filled with painful conversation, instead. "Did you enjoy dinner?"

Chloe's smile faded, melting into a frown as she tried to decipher Lex's comment. "Excuse me?" she asked, feeling somehow insulted. He was talking to her as if she were nothing more than an actress he'd hired for the night.

Seeing the cold features of his face, Chloe couldn't believe the change in him. A minute ago, she'd been having a lovely evening, and now she officially felt like she was just an accessory. Did he think she was playing a role? Or was it that this whole dance and kiss situation was planned? "Gee. Thanks."

Chloe crossed her arms, wondering why it had gotten so cold again. She sighed at his last statement, a little annoyed. "Gosh Lex, are you mad or something? Are you mad that I asked you to leave earlier? I freaked out, okay?" she snapped. Raising a shoulder, she explained, "It just seemed like I was waking up from some dream and…I don't know…I panicked. I'm not used to be under scrutiny like that." She also wasn't used to be kissed by her best friend's husband. But she didn't feel like getting into at subject at the moment. As it was, it was going to be a long ride back home.

Chloe sighed and looked out at the window. "And for you information, yes, I enjoyed the dinner," she said stiffly. As she spoke, she put her seat belt on, and she felt her hands brush against a bottle of what turned out to be water. Well, that would be handy, she figured idly as she picked it up.﻿


	26. Chapter 24

**A/N:** New update!! Yay! Ok, so short chapter, but a new one should be posted this week if all goes well. Jade and I have been busy like hell. Her being more busy than me, i didn't had her edit this chapter, so sorry for the mistakes :s

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 24**

When Chloe got angry and threw Lex's attitude back in his face, he realized he was being an ass and he should apologize. Instead, however, he rather perversely grew even more irritated. Pressing down the gas pedal, he wove through the traffic that was thinning on the outskirts of the city and sped back to Smallville, suddenly feeling that he couldn't get there fast enough to make this evening end. It had all been a gigantic mistake; Lex had blown it almost right out of the gate, and things just kept getting worse.

The silence in the car had grown to be insufferable, and though Lex had resolved to not make things worse, he had plenty to say.

"Chloe, when are you going to stop seeing me as the person you want me to be and start seeing me for the person I am? Because this is who I am; this is my life! Since you seem to have a hard time processing the vast differences between the life you lead in Smallville and the one I live every day, let me lay it out for you!" Lex paused, taking a small breathe before going on. "This isn't a fairy tale, Chloe. You may think there's something spectacular about the fact that I live in a castle and that I can order up a car without a problem when another one is totalled. You may think there's something romantic about the fact I can so easily carry you off to Metropolis to take you out to a fancy restaurant. The truth is that I spent less money on that one dinner than I routinely spend when I buy a new shirt. Does that sound romantic to you? Magical? Well, it's not because nothing in this world comes free. Not even to me.

"If you thought there was even a chance that you could be seen with me tonight and not draw attention, then you were kidding yourself! From the moment you agreed to have coffee with me this afternoon, it was a foregone conclusion that people would be wondering what you were doing with me, and from the moment we showed up at that restaurant tonight, people were going to assume that you would be receiving a pair of diamond earrings tomorrow!

"The story is going to break tomorrow that Lana has left me, if it hasn't already, and when it does, the entire world is going to assume it was my fault. They'll find out about Clark; they'll find out about the baby my wife aborted out of desperation to be rid of me. The rich and powerful of Metropolis will sympathize with me publicly because I have money so I'm part of the club, but behind closed doors, they'll laugh every time rumors and innuendo about my divorce are splashed across the six o'clock news and every newspaper in the country. "That poor Lex Luthor - able to buy anything he wants...except a woman who can stand him." And let's not forget that meanwhile, every socialite in town will start sharpening her claws to get her chance at being the next ex-Mrs. Luthor.

"You think it's funny and you laugh about it, and that's fine. I'll join you; what else can I do? But what do you really think people will say when they find out Lana tried to kill me? You think they'll laugh? You think they'll realize her instability may have nothing to do with me? You're out of your mind! When one wife tries to kill you for your money, that's just the price you pay for being rich. When a second wife almost succeeds at killing you for your money, you just have incredibly bad taste in women. But when a third wife tries to kill you a week after your wedding...? What kind of monster drives three women to hate him so much that they want to see him dead? Oh, and let's not forget that his former best friend even thinks it of him; it must be true, right?"

Having started to speak, he couldn't seem to stop himself. Everything came pouring out - things he'd never even realized he'd been thinking. It just all came out in a rush, and he was too full of bitterness and anger to care. Because he needed to look at her as he finished, Lex pulled the car over to the side of the road, stopped, then turned to face her.

"From the moment I picked you up to go to the restaurant today, I knew how my evening would end. Did I make a mistake with you tonight? Absolutely, and it was one I won't make again. I shouldn't have kissed you. I shouldn't have let myself...I was actually enjoying myself tonight, and I forgot, for a minute, who I was. In the restaurant, I let myself believe that I could be just like any other man and just enjoy the evening." And then, as suddenly as it had come, his anger and bitterness drained away, leaving him emotionally exhausted in its absence.

Chloe who had kept the first part of the trip looking outside the window, turned her head back to Lex, a little taken by surprise. What had gotten into him? Of course, he was right though. It did seem like it was who he was. She'd read about him in the newspapers, she'd heard about him from Clark, her father and from so many other persons who'd struggle with Lex. She'd even had many encounters herself with him or witnessed his behaviors. So why was she sitting next to him, after what seemed to her like an enjoyable moment?

Well it appeared that Chloe also remembered him as the man who had saved her life and her dad's. She knew secrets no one did, probably even Clark. She knew about his deceased little brother and how he had lived a pretty rough childhood. She also remembered him fighting against his father to keep the plant in Smallville and how many times he had covered her back, even when she had been trying to bring down one of his project. Yeah, Chloe cared because she knew there was good in him and that the last few years had been pretty rough for him. He'd been fighting to prove he was a better man than his father. Better than what people thought he could be. Not much people had gave him the chance to prove it. And now Lex had given up too.

One thing she hadn't thought through, and he was right, was about the outcomes in the public world. Soon, people would know about him and Lana. And Lana would know about tonight's dinner and maybe even about the kiss. And so would Clark. This was going to be a circus and it was her fault. Of course, kisses aside, she hadn't expected it would be such a big deal. Mostly when they were at the coffee place. Thinking about it, Clark's jealous demonstration probably hadn't help either. Now she felt terrible for putting her friends in such position.

"You... you enjoyed tonight?" Chloe finally said, though it didn't stop Lex to continue.

"I live the life my father laid out for me, Chloe," Lex continued in a quieter tone. "And that means I can give you trips around the world and treat you to the most lavish experiences you've ever dreamed of. I can buy you almost anything you could ever want. But I can't give you quiet evenings out, with just the two of us. I can't offer you privacy; unless we're in the mansion, there will always, always be someone watching.

"That's the life I lead, Chloe. I won't pretend there aren't things I enjoy about it, but it's not romantic. It's not perfect. It isn't even all that pretty every once in a while. When I drop you off this evening, I'm going to have to turn around and go right back to Metropolis so I can find at least two of those women who only see me for my bank account and do what I can to make sure that that's the story everyone's talking about tomorrow and not you. From the very beginning of the evening, I knew that's what I'd have to do at the end to keep your name from being linked to mine because I know how much you'd hate..."

Breaking off, he gave an impatient shake of his head. "I wasn't going to tell you any of that, because I don't want you to hate me for the things I have to do to keep what little privacy I can find in my life, and I don't want you to feel bad for me that I have to do it. But I can do these things - I can be your friend and do the things I have to do to keep you safe from the world I live in...I can do them because I think it's worth it to have...to be friends with you. And I would very much like to be your friend, Chloe, even though I know friendship is something I'm not very good at. I can do everything in my power to keep your privacy, to keep our names from ever being linked together romantically. Even if that means making a public spectacle of myself every once and a while - it certainly wouldn't be the first time.

"I wasn't lying before. There are times I'm not entirely sure I'm not the monster the world assumes me to be. There will be times, as my friend, when you'll hate me for the things I'll do and, as your friend, I will do whatever is in my power to make amends when I drive you to that. After tonight, if you still want to be my friend, I can deal with the problems that come along with that. If you decide you never want to see me again, I'll understand and I can deal with that too. But please don't...don't tell me that you want to be my friend if you're going to be ashamed to be seen with me in public. Don't tell me you want to be friends if you're going to be ashamed of me." He offered her a weak smile. "I can handle just about anything the world throws at me, but I'm not sure I can handle that."

As he finished talking, he looked back to the road and tried not to wince as he began to drive again. Was it even possible for him to make a bigger ass out of himself than he had just done? If she decided she was ashamed of him and never wanted to see him again after this, he wasn't entirely sure he could blame her. But at least, as embarrassing as his speech had been, Chloe had been given a chance to see the weakest and most pathetic part of him. And if she chose now to walk away, at least he would be spared the pain of her doing it later. Everyone Lex had ever cared about had become ashamed of him - or of the fact that they had been friends with him - before the end. His father, Clark, Lana...he just couldn't bear it if Chloe did the same. It was better, he supposed, to drive her off now than to have his heart broken by her later.

So if he was acting now to protect his heart, why had his heart felt suspiciously like it had been breaking from the moment Chloe had asked if they could leave the restaurant?

At last, Chloe took her turn to talk. "Please don't..." She took a deep breath. She was trying to find the right words. Lex seemed on edge. "Lex, I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was embarrassed to spend time with you. The thing is, I wasn't. I was only thinking about Lana and Clark. I didn't want them to read about the dinner in the newspaper. But you know what... It's done and even if you go fool around with some girls to put attention on it, it won't change the fact that my name will be there somewhere. And I have to assume it and the consequences with it. So don't go back... Don't try to protect me. I don't need to be protected. I can handle myself."

She looked back at the window, seeing that they were approaching Smallville. "And I'm not ashamed of you, Lex. I don't know what it'll take you to take me seriously, but I'll prove it to you that it is possible to live some kind of normal life." Chloe put on hand on the top of Lex's, looking back at him, while he was driving. " And that at you can be happy. And mostly importantly, that you can be a good man."

She let go her hand, not wanting this to degenerate once again and softly sighed. "There is more than meet the eyes Lex... And I think I..."

*DRING*

Lex's phone interrupted her as the car passed by the 'Welcome to Smallville' sign. Without much noticing, Chloe had slipped the bottle of water she'd found in the car in her bag, preparing herself to get back at her apartment, as they were getting closer to it.

"Go on.. You can pick up." She said, trying not to look disappointed by the interruption.

She couldn't help but think that maybe she had said something wrong to make him be so cold in the car. And the only reason she could see and with what he had said, he made sense, was when she asked to leave. Was Lex... falling for her? Or perhaps he cared a little more about her than he would have liked? Or maybe it was because he thought she didn't enjoy the night.

"But... you are like any other man.." She couldn't help let out. Not that he really was convinced though. Chloe's eyes left his and looked down. She felt bad. Bad for thinking that there could have been more. Bad that Lex had such a negative opinion of his own future.

Chloe's reaction left Lex bemused, though by this point, he should have realized that every time he was tempted to think the worst of the woman in the car next to him, she found a way to surprise him. This evening was no exception, but, then again, perhaps he had been too quick to react to her response at the restaurant.

Her words surprised him, but he found himself hanging on her every word. When his phone rang, interrupting her train of thought, he was tempted to throw the damn thing out the window. What had she been about to say, he wondered. She what?

But now he couldn't throw the phone out the window without her being curious as to why he was feeling so hostile toward the inanimate object. So, without glancing at the caller I.D., he flipped it open and barked brusquely into the receiver, "Luthor."

In silence, he listened to the person on the other end of the line. Then, after a couple of minutes, he said tersely, "I'll expect your report in ten minutes, then. Yes, of course."

Clicking his phone shut, he glanced at Chloe out of the corner of his eye. Mulling over his options, he finally sighed heavily and turned the car towards the Mansion. "You'll have to excuse me if I delay taking you home, Chloe. But, see, I have absolutely no doubt that you're curious about that phone call I just received. And, knowing you, I could take you home, but it wouldn't do any good. You'd probably get in your car, drive back to my house, sneak past my security, and... oh... maybe scale my ivy trellis to listen in on the goings on in my office."

Smirking slightly, he continued. "Of course, knowing that, I could try to do everything in my power to thwart you, but I think you and I both know how this would end. If you didn't manage to break your pretty neck...and I think we can agree that your luck will manage to just get you through without that happening...you'd no doubt find a way into my office to find out for yourself what the report I'm waiting on is about. Or, alternatively, you'd be found clinging the side of my mansion like a petite and better dressed Spider-Man, and I'd have to explain to the police why the woman the newspapers will assume to be my newest girlfriend is scaling my house, I'd end up bribing them to keep it quiet - which would, of course, be a futile effort - and a new rumor would circulate around town that I'm now subjecting all my newest girlfriends to a new form of extreme dating." He paused, as he turned on his private road.

"Plus, my gardener would hate me for what "I" did to my ivy, regardless of the fact that I wasn't the one clinging to the ivy as if my life depended upon it. He'd either quit - best case scenario - or drop passive-aggressive hints about how I should never be allowed near plant life again for the rest of my life or until my head exploded from the pressure."

Thrwoing her a wink, he said lightly, "So I think you and I both can agree that it would just be easiest if I take you with me to my place until teh report arrives. Besides, it's about Lana, so this concerns you, in a way. Given the peculiarities of her behavior lately, I"ve had some things of hers tested. I thought perhaps some sort of toxin or foreign agent might have contributed to her mood swings."

Chloe slightly frowned, amused (and somewhat relieved) by his change of attitude. "You think you know me that well?" She then dramatically sighed, and looked in front of her, moving her eyes to the side of Lex, barely moving her head. "I'm offended. I'd probably would have gone to bed dreaming of a better world, who knows?" She then paused and put a small smile at the corner of her mouth. "But if you insist... I guess I'll go with you..." She avoided looking concerned, but having news about Lana was indeed something really important at this moment. It might even be a moment of truth.

In a couple of minutes, they arrived back at the Mansion and Lex pulled the car into the drive. Killing the engine, he walked around and helped her out of her seat, his mind working furiously to devise a way to look at the report before she got a chance to. By bringing her along, he further cemented the idea that he had nothing to hide, but it was going to be tricky if he discovered that he did, in fact, have something to hide.

Well, he could be clever, he supposed. At any rate, he escorted Chloe into his study and walked over to his desk, checking his fax machine. "Make yourself comfortable," he said causally when he saw that the report hadn't arrived yet.

He was parched, so as he booted up his e-mail to see if he had received anything pertinent, he asked, "Do you mind pouring me a drink? Water would be excellent." Of course, whiskey would be better, but if he was going to drive Chloe back to her place and return to Metropolis this evening, he might want to slow down on the alcoholic drinks. He wanted to cause a scandal, but getting in a DWI crash wasn't exactly what he had in mind. "I'd appreciate it," he added with a smile.

Chloe made herself home as she put her bag on the couch and removed her coat. "Water?" Chloe asked as she looked around. Walking over the mini bar, it became obvious that it was...a full equipped bar. She had trouble finding what was water… or vodka or any other alcool. She even doubted he would have bottles of water in here. As she was about to ask him for the water, she remembered putting in her purse a bottle of water, unopened.

She walked over the couch and opened the bottle pouring Lex and herself some water in the glasses she had taken from the bar. Chloe let the bottle on the top of the bar and walked back to Lex's desk. "Here." She said as she put it beside him and sat on the chair on the other side of the desk, in front of Lex.

Moment of silence was killing Chloe. Wasn't now 10 minutes later? "What did you get tested by the way?" She asked after drinking almost half of her glass.

Lex absently took a sip of his water and grimaced at its tepid taste as his fax began to spit out a number of papers. Taking a moment to scowl at the glass in his hand, he momentarily considered throwing it out and pouring himself a real drink instead, but considering how much of a drunken ass he'd made of himself in front of Chloe the night before, he should probably take it easy. He wasn't exactly eager to repeat the experience, particularly not since he had already decided that letting himself get genuinely too much closer to Chloe was to be cautiously avoided.

So, bracing himself, he downed half the glass in his hand before he set it aside. Then, picking up the pieces of paper coming out of the fax machine, he took a seat and began to scan them.

"Hm?" he asked as Chloe asked him a question. It took him a moment to process her inquiry, but once he had, he glanced up at her quickly before looking back to the papers in his hand. "Oh, a number of things," he answered with a distracted air. "I didn't bother to test most of the food around here, since I ate it with her and I didn't suffer any ill effects, but I did test a few things that only she has been exposed to in the last few days. Her toothpaste, toiletries - well, those that she didn't break when she came at me with the fireplace poker, at least - the vitamins she was taking for her...for her pregnancy." It still hurt to think about what she'd done and the child he would never be allowed to have.

Chloe took note of what he was saying and nodded. "Of course.", she said, finishing her glass in the process. Usually, when Lex was looking for something, he usually found his way to do so. Hopefully it was the case here.

Ruthlessly thrusting that thought aside, Lex picked up the remainder of the document and continued to read. "Of course, I suppose it's possible her mood swings were due to a combination of her pregnancy and her...mental illness, but...well, call me an arrogant man, if you want, but I like to think that any time a woman goes from begging for sex to trying to kill me within a span of five minutes, there might be something more going on."

But it was with a sigh that he finished reading the last sheet in the stack. "Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to reconcile myself to the fact that Lana just might not have thought me the excellent lover I like to pride myself on being, because there's absolutely nothing in these documents that looks the least bit likely to have caused such a change in her."

The image of Lana begging for sex wasn't the most welcome image in her mind as she did her best to chase it away and not look disturbed. "I understand... I'm sure there is an explanation Lex..."

Damn. He didn't want to say as much out loud, but there had been a part of him that had rather hoped that he would find something incriminating in those sheets. Something that would explain why he'd had everything he'd ever wanted for such a short time and then, in the course of about a half an hour, lost everything he'd wanted to hold on to so badly. But, no... Lana hadn't been drugged. She had simply wanted him one minute and then decided she loathed him the next.

Sitting back in his chair, he brooded silently over this rather depressing thought for a moment, and then he looked back up at his companion. She was watching him silently, clearly waiting her turn with the report, and so, since he didn't see anything incriminating for him personally, he handed it over.

"In fact, the only the least bit noteworthy was in the bottle of vitamined water I sent them of she drank for her pregnancy. She'd been drinking it that evening when she...ah...when we had our last falling out. In the formula, they found all the usual vitamins, but they also found some traces of...well, as odd as it's going to sound... rock. Red rock, with a cellular structure close to that of the green meteor rocks that are all over this town. What it was doing there is anyone's guess, but it seems unlikely that it caused her behavior that evening."

Throwing back the last of his drink, he finally caved and turned to his bar. "In the light of the news that my wife does apparently genuinely despise me, I think I'll have a real drink. Can I offer you one?"

As he was speaking, Chloe stood up, not looking at the paper he had in his hand. For some reasons, the conversation about the attack reminded her about his injury. She knew he probably hadn't cleaned it since. Still, she dared to ask. "Lex.. Have you changed your bandage since yesterday?" She walked over him and took his arm in her hands. She saw a little blood on his shirt. "That's what I thought." She sighed. "For a guy who's been injured as much as you, don't you know that a bandage needs to be change at least once per day? And in your case, maybe twice would have been a good idea since it's deep."

She looked around and saw the emergency kit. Someone must have put it there for Lex but as he had spent the day with her, he probably had forgotten. "Take your shirt off.. Please." She added this time so it wouldn,t sound like something else. "I'll change the bandage. And no complain here."

As she opened the kit and took what she needed, she thought about Lex's last statement about the red meteor rock. Red K? Could it be possible? She thought it only affected Clark. But if green K affected human, why not red? Damn... She'd have to talk to Clark about it. But right now didn't seem appropriate to suddenly disappear after hearing those news. Lex wasn't a fool. Instead, she explained to him what it did. At least in case Lana still had that vitamin water with her and showed up again. What if she did had show up intoxicated earlier?

The shirt off, Chloe took care of Lex's arm, trying to focus on her words and not on Lex's really great body that was just calling to her so badly. "Erhm.. I think you found something. Red... meteor rocks. Well they affect people. It happened in high school.. once. And well.. it kinda made the person turn bad... or.. well in Lana's case, maybe totally obsessed with you." Chloe said not really lying since the other case had been Clark. But mentioning it made her realize if it made Clark go bad, Lana had been more... impulsive in love? She couldn't quite define it since she hadn't witnessed it. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was the problem. We're in Smallville after all. Sorry." She said as she took off his bandages to reveal fresh blood on his arm.

She looked up at Lex. "What if she..." Chloe stopped. Maybe Lana had aborted under Red K., but on second thought sadly she doubted. Not with what she had seen of Lana recently. Not with the way she acted with Lex on red K. She would have kept it. "Maybe she wasn't herself this morning. What if she still has the bottle with her? Or another one... Lex.. how many bottles did she have?"

As she spoke, Chloe applied some alcool on his wound, gently cleaning it with a towel, her eyes not helping to give a look at his body once in a while. "Sorry. Again." It was an odd thing to stand beside Lex that was higly attractive and speaking about a dead serious subject. It was odd, but it helped her focus a little. At least so she could sound coherent.

"Ok so now relax your arm a little. Going to apply some tincture of Iodine on your wound." As she applied, Chloe gently blew on the wound so it would sting a little less. Her mouth so near of his skin. There were just too many things invading her minds on what she would do to that skin. Not again! She just couldn't chase her attraction for him away too long apparently. "Almost done.." She said with a little pink on her cheeks, embarrassed by her thoughts.

"As for Lana.. well... hmm.. I think we're onto something now..."


	27. Chapter 25

**A/N:** Ok here's a new update. It might take more time for the next one, but I thought it was time for you guys to get to read the fun part once again, hasn't been beta'd (if that's even a word!), but I think it's still pretty good!

So, to be on the safe side, **I'd like to warn that this part is a little NC17**. You've been warned, now enjoy!

PS: I really appreciate feedbacks. That's what keeps Jade and I going ;)

***

**Chapter 25**

Lex was surprised when Chloe abruptly brought up his injury. In all honesty, he'd rather forgotten he had it over the course of the last day, so it was something of a surprise to find that it was apparently bleeding again.

"Oh, of course," he said when Chloe directed him to take off his shirt. It would probably be easier for her to tend his wound this way, but given that he'd already kissed her twice this evening, it did seem to put the thought of him being partially undressed in front of her in rather different perspective.

Oh, don't be such a big baby, Lex. You don't have any intention of trying anything right now, do you? I thought we'd agreed even CONSIDERING entertaining those thoughts about Chloe was a bad idea!

Right. Of course. It was no big deal, so what was he being churlish about? Before he could second-guess himself, he shrugged out of his shirt and sat back, placidly allowing her to tend to him. "You're a regular Florence Nightingale, aren't you?" he teased Chloe as she took care of his injury. "Well, I admit, you're probably right that I should take better care of myself, given all the injuries I've had in my life. On the other hand, after being shot, stabbed, and poisoned, a little cut on my arm is hardly anything to get worked up about."

She was so close, he could smell the perfume she was wearing, and he imagined he felt the soft caress of her breath as she bent over him. Truly, she was absolutely breathtaking. How had it taken him so long to notice it?

He could see her brain working furiously as she explained the effects she'd witnessed red meteor rocks have on people, and he pondered what she was telling him. "So, my wife was only obsessed with me because she was under the influence of meteor rocks?" he asked, his voice light because he was rather genuinely bemused at the thought. "Well, that's certainly going to be a salve to my ego."

Chloe hadn't realized by saying Lana had been madly in love with Lex for a brief moment because of a substance that it implied she had never really cared for him. "Oh yeah, sorry… I didn't mean to put it that way." She let out, as she opened the first aid kit.

She kept turning her head to look away from Lex as she pulled supplies out of the first aid kit and worked on his arm, and he found himself unaccountably annoyed at those moments when her face was hidden from view. Then she looked up at him and his breath caught; she was so close to him and his memory... his memory was just a little too good, actually, because he remembered exactly how she'd tasted when he'd kissed her and having her so close made him want to taste her again. "She had... a whole case," he answered absently, not even paying attention to the words coming out of his mouth.

Instead, his gaze was fixed on her lips, watching them with an almost predatory intensity. What would she do, he wondered, if he leaned forward right now and kissed her? Would she kiss him back, like she had in the car, or would she run from him, like she had in the restaurant? He shouldn't be thinking about her this way, he knew, but the better angels in his head were not only being shouted down by his demons, for all he heard their sage advice, they might well have been bound, gagged, and locked in a closet to boot.

She was killing him, he decided. She might have been intending to help him, but he was fairly certain he would die from her ministrations. Having her so close, her lips so tantalizingly near his own, he couldn't bear it. He wanted to reach out and grab hold of her, pull her into his lap, and...

God, he was hard. How could she be so close to him and not see the throbbing erection that had to be visibly tenting the front of his slacks? He sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut when she blew on him, but not from the pain of whatever it was she'd applied to his arm (that, he had barely noticed). Somehow, the touch of her breath on his skin had to be just about the most erotic thing he'd ever felt in his life.

"Chloe," he murmured, knowing he should give a damn about Lana and the red meteor rocks and whatever else they'd been talking about a minute ago but unable to work up the least bit of interest in the topic. Instead, he could only think of how much he wanted to touch her, so he reached out with a trembling hand and brushed the lock of hair that had fallen into her face, obscuring her face from his view, behind an ear.

He might have left it at that - maybe - but then he saw it. Her eyes darted from his arm to his bare chest, and she could swear that she liked what she saw. Was it possible that maybe, after all the dancing around each other that they had done this evening, she was as distracted by him as he had come to be by her?

He heard the words she spoke, but he didn't really follow the context; his brain was focused on only one thing and it sure as hell wasn't the idiosyncrasy of his ex-wife's behavior. They were onto something? No, not yet, but give him a couple of minutes and he'd like to have her on top of the desk in front of him. Naked and screaming his name if at all possible. She'd been teasing him all evening, with that dress and that smile and that laugh...the way her eyes shined when she teased him...and he just couldn't take it any longer.

He was sick of holding back and pretending not to be attracted to her. It was high time he remembered who he was - what he was. He was a predator, a lion, and she had walked blindly into his lair like a sacrificial lamb. And everyone knew what happened to lambs who found themselves in such a situation. They got eaten.

His gaze raked her body openly, since she had come so close and put it on such tantalizing display. Why yes, thank you, I think I will admire the view. So how much longer was he going to deny himself what he had come to want so very, very badly this evening, when he was a Luthor and was, thus, accustomed to getting anything he had ever desired?

And what he desired, right now, was her.

He was sick of justifying to himself why he couldn't have her or shouldn't have her. He wanted her; it was as simple as that.

With a smile that was positively feral, Lex jumped to his feet, heedless of the attention Chloe was still lavishing on his arm. Instead, he leaned forward, bracing her body between his arms as he rested his palms down on the desk, trapping her in his grasp. Because she instinctively leaned back when he leaned into her (and, my, what lovely things that did to the view), he leaned forward slighly more, just to see her rest her weight against the desk in response.

"Tell me, Chloe," he said, his voice a husky rasp rather than its normal smooth and cultured tones. "Do you really want to talk about Lana right now?" Straightening abruptly, he stepped closer to her, crowding her further, and looked down at her with a smirk as he memorized the curves of her body. With his fingertips, he brushed her hair back from her face and trailed a light path down her shoulders to her arms. "Because I think..." he said seductively as he teased her with his touch, "That I would rather turn my attention back to the game we've been playing all night. We started something earlier, in the car..." He bent to brush his lips across her neck. "And in the restaurant..." He looped his fingers under the shoulder straps of her gown and began to tease her with the question of whether he would or would not push them over her shoulders and down her arms. "And I think it's time we finished what we started. Don't you?"

Lex stopped his teasing and, instead, wrapped his arms around her waist, putting pressure on the small of her back to bring her closer as he pressed himself against her. Unless she was the most innocent person on the planet, there was no way she could mistake the bulge pressed up against her for anything other than what it was.

"We've been dancing around each other for years, I think. Stay with me tonight," he whispered in her ear. "Stay with me."

His entire world was filled with her at this moment - the sound of her breath against his cheek, the feel of her pressed against his body, the warm taste of her skin. Nothing existed beyond the fell of Chloe Sullivan in his arms, and it was all he could do not to toss her on top of the desk and thrust into her over and over until she came apart in his arms. But he needed to hear her say it. He needed to hear her say that she wanted him just as badly as he needed her.

"Lex..." She started to say, but didn't found words to go on. She was rather confused but also obviously aroused. The question was: What had got into Lex all of a sudden? And then it hit her. Kryptonite. Chloe had picked up a bottle in his car. A bottle of water, like Lana's and unless she was mistaken, Lex wasn't the type to drink much water unless he was training. Chloe's eyes narrowed. Oh god! They were intoxicated!

"It's... not... It's not us Lex.." Chloe tried to explain as Lex was totally distracting her with his fingers on her skin. "I think... it's... red rocks..." She managed to say between heavy breath, which had increased. The invitation was just too tempting. She tried to rationalize the situation, try to fight the effects of Red K. But did she? Did she really want to fight? It had been hard, but manageable trough the day, but tonight, it just seemed impossible. Chloe's brain was slowly shutting, removing slowly all of her rationality.

Everything seemed to have an effect on her right now. His perfume, his raspy voice, the fact he was overpowering her in some sort. His erection. Everything related to him right now turned her on. So when he asked her, almost begged, for her to stay, she couldn't take it anymore. "Ok..." She took a deep breathe and looked at Lex, who seemed as much possessed by the Red K fever than her (so what the hell, they wouldn't remember it then). "I'll stay tonight Lex."

"Actually" She started as she leaned closer to him, "I've been wanting you for quite some time..." She said with a soft whisper, after which she put her hands along his neck and kissed him with passion.

Lex wanted to laugh at her suggestion, but he couldn't quite find the air to breathe with her that close. He definitely had a problem, but if she thought that problem was red meteor rocks, she was more naive than he ever would have thought. Gritting his teeth so that he wouldn't tear her clothes off of her, Lex tried to think of the words to tell her his real problem when she said it, that word he'd been so wanting to hear.

"Okay."

It was amazing how much of an effect those two little syllables had on him. She said that she'd stay, and he grew even harder, if that were possible. It was almost painful, how much he wanted her. No, it was painful, a delicious agony that he both needed to prolong and sought to end.

Before he could sweep her into his arms, her hands were on him, her lips against his, and...he hesitated. Having her so near did nothing to quell his desire, but...there was a little voice in the back of his mind, warning him to go slow, be gentle. He hadn't quite forgotten that his downfall had come before when he'd been tempted to give in to his baser desires; did he really want to risk an encore performance?

But this was different. She was different. He ground himself against her and she didn't shy away. He bit gently down upon the curve of her shoulder, and she didn't protest. No, instead, she leaned into him, her body asking for more even though her lips didn't say a word. She wasn't afraid of him; she wasn't frightened of his passion or overcome with maidenly modesty when he cupped her breast in his palm, testing the weight of it, testing her reaction to his touch. In fact, if he wasn't mistaken, she just might have gasped his name in pleasure.

To hell with being gentle, taking it slow. He wanted her. He had to know what his name sounded like on her lips when her voice became an erotic purr. He needed to know how her skin felt when it was slick with sweat as she met him thrust for thrust. If he didn't find out how her breath caught in her throat when he sent her over the edge and she shattered around him, he thought he might die.

He was a lion released from his cage, but she didn't run from him. As he captured her mouth once more and felt it open under his, her tongue battling his for dominance, he gloried in the way she responded to him. She took everything that he offered her and demanded more, not satisfied with this feeble foreplay. And so he gave her what she asked.

With a sweep of his arm, everything on his desk clattered to the floor. The lamp shattered upon impact; his computer toppled the chessboard on its way down. The Black King and White Queen skittered away somewhere into the darkness beyond the desk, but Lex didn't care. Instead, he wrapped his hands under Chloe's thighs and lifted, pulling her against him as he pinned her to the top of the desk with the weight of his body.

Sinking his fingers into her hair, he pulled her head back with inexorable force, though he was careful not to hurt her, until she was laid before him, her weight resting on her elbows, her legs wrapped around his hips. She was so seductive, and she probably didn't even know it, but Lex couldn't take his eyes off her.

Impatient for more - for everything - he bent over her and kissed the tender curve of her neck, pulling her head back slightly so that he could press his tongue against the pulse beating an erratic rhythm just beneath the skin. He couldn't stop touching her body, running his hands over every inch of bare skin he could reach, but it wasn't enough. She had entirely too many clothes on, and, come to think of it, so did he.

"Ah, Chloe," he murmured, her name a benediction on his lips as he kissed his way down her chest to the breasts that were still covered in silky black fabric. He loved this little dress she was almost wearing, but right now, it was simply in the way.

Tilting his head back to look at her face, he promised in a gravelly voice, "I'll buy you a new one," and then his fingers dove between the folds of her garment and tugged sharply, ripping the front of it in two.

When he gazed down at her, in her ruined dress and the oh my god incredibly sexy black bra she'd been wearing underneath, Lex felt his mouth go dry. How had he missed what was right in front of him for so long? She was every erotic dream he'd ever had come to life, and he'd almost missed it.

"Upstairs," he croaked. For what he wanted to do to her - every vivid picture his mind could concoct - they would need to be in one of the bedrooms upstairs. It was killing him not to rip away her panties as he had her bra and drive himself into her, but it would be better to wait, just a couple minutes more, to ensure they were not interrupted. Because if anyone dared interrupt them at this moment, he would have to kill them with his bare hands.

"Wrap your arms around my neck," he demanded as he lifted her, groaning when she tightened her legs around him, the movement causing him to press against her core once more. He had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out, reminding himself that the rewards of reaching a bedroom would far outweigh the agony of stopping long enough to get there.

He kissed her as he walked, almost tripping over his feet in his haste, and it was a bloody miracle, in his mind, that he didn't kill them both on the stairs, so distracted was he. But finally, they reached a bedroom - the first in that hallway - and Lex stumbled inside, Chloe still wrapped tight around him.

Spinning around, he pinned her against the door he'd just closed behind them, muttering a curse at the feel of her body against his. He should take it slow this time, he knew, learn her body and let her learn his. But he couldn't bear it. After this first time, he swore he'd let her explore his body as much as she wanted. He'd be slow and deliberate and take his time to ensure that she would scream out his name. This time, though, he needed her too damn much.

Turning again, he made his way over to the bed and tossed her on top of the coverlet, not bothering to be gentle. Then he stood over her, panting slightly. "Don't touch a thing," he demanded harshly. "Don't so much as slip out of your shoes." Coming down on top of her, he braced her head between his palms and said, "I'm going to tear your clothes off, sweetheart." Just as soon as he found his way out of his damned slacks.


End file.
